The Affliction of War
by StrawberryGirl87
Summary: Harry has a great job as head Auror, he has more money than he knows what to do with and yet he knows that something is missing in his life. His friends have moved on and created lives of their own beyond the war with Voldemort and yet Harry just feels lost. Until a new mission is given to him and he is sent to America but things are not as they first appear. SLASH MPREG
1. A New Mission

The Affliction of War

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><p>Harry has a great job as head Auror, he has more money than he knows what to do with and yet he knows that something is missing in his life. His friends have moved on and created lives of their own beyond the war with Voldemort and yet Harry just feels lost. Until a new mission is given to him and he is sent to America but things are not as they first appear.<p>

- Please note in this chapter reference is made to Fury founding Shield... I know that this is not the case, I'm not an idiot. This is what Kingsley believe's to be true! He would NOT know all the details about Shield.

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><p>Chapter One – The New Mission<p>

Kingsley Shacklebolt was not in the best of moods as he headed out into muggle London for his impromptu evening meeting. His mind was fraught with concern as he went over the plan of action that he had spent days figuring out. It had required time and a high level of attention to detail as it involved someone of extreme import, not only to him but to the entire wizarding world. He hadn't had as much time to prepare as he would have wanted, this meeting wasn't supposed to be for another week but recent information had forced them to speed up their plans.

There was a whole new threat to deal with, it was a threat that they hadn't seen the likes of since the times of Voldemort. The grumblings of power had begun over a month ago and not willing to make the same mistakes as his predecessor's, Kingsley had sprung into action immediately. He wasn't willing to take any chances, not when it concerned the young man who had become a shining beacon of hope for the entire wizarding world.

When he had taken Harry Potter on as an Auror he had known that the position would put the boy in unnecessary danger but that had been what Harry had wanted. He had passed both the mental and physical evaluations required for the job and Kingsley had seen no reason not to employ him when he had already shown his worth when it came to fighting dark wizards. However what the Minister for Magic had not been expecting was for a new threat to arise against the young man.

He had promoted Harry to head Auror before his time to get him out of the field and therefore out of harm's way, a strategic move on his part and yet it still hadn't protected him. The Ministry wasn't safe any more, information was being leaked out to the enemy that didn't yet have a face. Kingsley could trust no one but he knew that he had to keep Harry safe.

The Minister knew better than to simply try and to protect Harry, he was headstrong, stubborn and wouldn't just hide away not even if it meant saving his life. The young man was undoubtedly a fighter, he had to be to have survived everything that he had. If he was told the truth about what was happening then he would want to be a part of the fight and Kingsley worried that he wouldn't survive this one or that he simply wouldn't want to.

Whatever was coming for him this time it was not Voldemort. It was something else entirely and it would stop at nothing to have him dead and buried whatever the cost and no matter how much collateral damage was done. This was why the Minister was going to enlist some help; he had a plan, a plan that would keep Harry safe and all he needed was for this meeting to go as he planned.

-x

Wandering the corridors of the Ministry of Magic where he worked, on his way to see the Minister for Magic himself, Harry Potter had allowed himself to become lost in thought as he allowed his feet to lead him to where he needed to be. His musings were a way of offering himself a distraction from the mess he had made of his life, though Harry hadn't found him wandering through pleasant thoughts however, instead he had found himself considering what Ron and Hermione were up to.

His two best friends had sent him a present and a card for his birthday, they had arrived by owl early that morning, which was nice of them seeing as they had at least remembered that it was his birthday but he hadn't seen them in a few months now.

He knew that it was partly his fault, he had allowed himself to become overwhelmed with his work and they had other things to worry about now other than him. Their first child, Rose had been born last year and they were still adjusting to life being parents as well as both of them working demanding jobs at the same time. They were still friends and probably always would be but they weren't as close now as they once had been.

Ron and Hermione had however asked him to be Godfather of Rose Weasley and that was why Harry had made the effort to go and see his little God-daughter several times since she had been born. The problem with visiting them however it was always a little awkward being there whenever Ginny was too. The romance between the two of them had died before it had ever really begun, the war having flung them together and torn them apart in very quick succession. She was now dating Justin Finch Fletchley of all people. Harry was happy for her though, she deserved someone normal in her life who could give her the life and the happiness that she wanted. Everyone knew that Harry wasn't exactly normal, he hadn't been the same since he had killed Voldemort.

He couldn't bring himself to visit Teddy, Remus and Tonk's beautiful son. He couldn't look that little boy in the eye knowing that he had been unable to save his parents. Teddy was another orphan of war, just like Harry had been and Harry knew to leave the child well enough alone. He was poison and he wouldn't inflict that on an innocent boy.

Work had taken the place of friends and any serious romantic relations in his life, his dedication to his job as an Auror at the Ministry of Magic had landed him the position of head of the department and also the title of youngest head Auror in over a century at just twenty-seven years old. Not that that mattered to Harry however, it was just another title to add to a very long list of titles that had been given to him over the years, titles that he cared very little for.

The job did have its perks though, he couldn't deny that even if it wasn't what he had wanted. While all the other Auror's had their own tiny cubicles to work in and spent the majority of their time out in the field rather than in the office, Harry had been given his very own and very large office and was thought of as rather important. Not that Harry felt it, now that he was rarely out in the field he felt his Auror training and life experience was wasted, sitting behind a desk, filing paperwork that related to what the other Aurors were doing.

Aside from a few brief sexual liaisons, which rarely lasted longer than a single night, his life was dominated by his work. He took comfort in it when his life lacked everything else. He had been trained for this, defeating Dark Wizards, capturing them, even killing them. Ever since he had destroyed Voldemort he had been floundering, trying to find a place in the new world, not really fitting anywhere and believing that he should have died. He felt as if he were drowning a lot of the time, so out of control of his own life, going through the motions and doing what was expected of him.

No one else really understood that, they all thought that he should have been happy, he had a safe job that paid well too. He was alive, when so many others weren't. He was a celebrated hero, beloved by so many and because of that he attended countless charity dinners, gala dinners and other Ministry of Magic functions that supplied him with an endless supply of witches and wizards to satisfy his more carnal desires, however brief the flings he had were.

He should have been content with what he had but of course he wasn't. He was downright bored with his life. It was empty, devoid of life, a constant stream of meaningless parties and even more meaningless sex. He had reached the top of his chosen career, received all the honours that he could have ever wanted and had more money then he knew what to do with, there was nowhere else to go for him. All he was missing was someone to love and care about, a family of his own but he couldn't even have a normal romantic relationship and build a family without it coming down to him being the great wizarding hero so in the end so he had simply given up.

He had spent so much of his life fighting to survive that it seemed he had forgotten to live. Everyone else had moved on, built homes, families, lives and were thriving and here he was, left behind, watching his friends grow up, get married and have children. He had made that possible for them and he was happy that they had managed to move on from the horrors they had all suffered through. However he wanted it for himself too and yet it always seemed so far out of his grasp. Harry had never come close to having a lasting relationship let alone having children of his own.

Instead of enjoying his twenty seventh birthday and celebrating his becoming another year older with a partner or children that he could have had if he hadn't focused so intently on his career, he was on his way to see the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry had received an urgent summons moments before, just as he was considering going home for the day and instead of going back to his apartment in muggle London, his sanctuary and the only place he truly felt at ease, he was going to pay a visit to the Kingsley.

He and Kingsley were friends of sorts, they had been ever since the war had ended and Voldemort had been destroyed nine years previously. However it wasn't often that they got the chance to talk as they were both rather busy with their jobs and usually they only crossed paths at various functions that they were both forced to attend. In one year there would be a huge event to mark the anniversary of the end of the war, a full decade since the final battle had ended.

The last time that Harry had seen the Minister was at the memorial service more than a month previously and they had both agreed that they needed to have a catch up, however Harry knew that the Minister would never use an urgent summons just to have a chat. Whatever it was, that Kingsley had summoned him so urgently to discuss, it was serious.

He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as he approached the Minister's office, unsure of what would be so important to have him be summoned at nearly five in the evening on a Friday night when most of the other staff had long since gone home for the night. He himself had been planning on drowning his sorrows of another birthday spent alone in a large bottle of fire whiskey. Though it seemed that his plans would have to wait for a while.

Harry, reaching the door to Kingsley's office, took a deep breath and knocked, calling out, "Kingsley," to let the man know that it was him on the other side of the door. When he heard the Minister bid him entrance he opened the door and went inside. "You wanted to see me?" he asked, entering the familiar office that always seemed to be a mass of papers and all sorts of odds and ends that were forever changing.

Looking up from the handful of parchment that he had been scanning he gave his visitor a small smile, "Ah, yes, I did, come in, Harry," The tall black wizard said in his usual deep voice. Harry never ceased to be amazed at how impressive a man he was. His familiar single gold hooped earring glinted in the light, his presence dominating the room with very little effort. "Close the door, what I'm about to tell you needs to stay between the two of us."

Harry nodded, though not liking the ominous tone that the Minister was using he understood the need to maintain a certain level of privacy. Doing as he had been instructed he began to feel increasingly nervous about what was to come. It felt as if there were a lead weight in his stomach, he hated this feeling of uncertainty. Whatever the Minister had called him here to talk about it wasn't anything good. However along with the anxiety of not knowing there was a hint of excitement, this was what he lived for.

They both settled in the only available seats in the room, Kingsley taking his position behind his desk and Harry taking up residence in the comfortable arm chair in front of him, waiting for the inevitable. There was an uneasy atmosphere between them as silence descended and Harry thought he saw a glimmer of something in the Minister's eyes, though Harry couldn't be sure what it was or what it meant.

"Harry, I'm sorry to summon you here but a matter has come to my attention and it calls for only the best at my disposal to deal with it, my best being you." The Minister began, an obvious strain showing on his aging face, the job he was doing seemed to be draining him of life. He was not the man that Harry had once known. Harry nodded his understanding, remaining silent, taking in what the Minister was saying. Harry already knew that he was good at his job, he didn't need to be told this nor did he need to be praised. If he wasn't the best he wouldn't be head of the Auror office at only twenty seven even if he was the boy-who-lived and the man who had destroyed Voldemort. "Have you ever heard of an organisation called S.H.I.E.L.D?" Kingsley asked, his eyes trained on the young man in front of him.

Harry furrowed his brow at the unexpected question, trying to think if he had ever come across the name of the organisation before but he couldn't think of a time when he had, it didn't even sound familiar to him at all "No, I don't believe I have," he responded honestly with a shake of his head.

"I didn't expect that you would have," Kingsley said honestly with a nod of his head, still not looking overly happy. "It stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," he explained and his tone expressed exactly how he felt about this particular organisation.

"I'm not sure I understand, why are you telling me this?" Harry queried curiously. After the war as he was growing up and his many years of being an Auror since, Harry knew to be sceptical and suspicious of everything. He might have been the boy-who-lived and the one to destroy the Dark Lord but that didn't mean he didn't still have enemies. He wasn't quite as paranoid as Alastor Moody had once been when he had been alive but give it a few more years of being alone and he knew that he would be. It wasn't a thought that boded well in his mind.

"S.H.I.E.L.D is a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency based in America, however they have offices all over the world. The agency itself was founded by a man, a muggle, called Nick Fury," Kingsley went on, leaking the information to Harry slowly and carefully. It gave Harry the impression that the Minister wasn't exactly telling him everything. However he remained quiet, listening and giving the occasional nod to show that he understood. "Earlier this evening he contacted me and asked for my help."

"They asked for help?" Harry asked with confusion, mulling this over for a moment before carrying on, "But if they're muggles, how do they know about us?"

"The statute of secrecy allows us to be in contact with a number of muggle government agencies across the world to ensure that they are well warned of any potential threats that may cross the boundaries and vice versa," Kingsley explained. Harry had of course known that the Minister of Magic and the Prime Minister were on speaking terms, however Harry had had no idea exactly how far the statute of secrecy went. Apparently it went pretty far if it stretched to organisations such as S.H.I.E.L.D.

"So there is a threat that they're facing and they want our help?" Harry asked, just to clarify and Kingsley nodded his head. It was clear by the expression on his worn and weathered face that he wasn't thrilled with this call for aid. "You don't trust them?"

"Their motives are… unclear," Kingsley admitted. He seemed happy that Harry had picked up on this and was rather impressed that he had deducted that the situation they were now in was a somewhat precarious one.

"Then why are we agreeing to help them?" Harry asked. He was starting to understand why it was that he had been summoned here and the idea was making his blood run a little hotter, his pulse race a little faster. This really was what he lived for.

"There are a few reasons," The Minister said, "What you need to know is that they wanted the best agent that I had, so I'm recommending that I send you," the Minister said, looking at Harry imploringly. "You are the only one I can trust with this. You are the only one with enough past experience that I know can handle this."

"I'm guessing that I won't be taking anyone with me on this then," Harry said with a sigh. All his past assignments he had had a partner. He was infamous amongst the other Auror's, even with his good name his reputation proceeded him. He never kept a partner for more than one assignment. If they survived the dangerous missions then they would quickly seek out a partner who wasn't quite as much as a danger magnet of sorts.

"That is correct and as long as you are agreeable of course you'll be leaving tomorrow morning. This assignment would mean field work and working in a team of rather… unique non-magical individuals. It would also mean concealing what you were. Nick Fury knows the extent of the wizarding world but the team you will be working with do not. There will be limited to no contact with the wizarding world for the duration of the assignment, it would be too dangerous to allow."

"I'm agreeable," Harry said with a sigh. The thought of a mission as drastic and as dangerous as this made him feel alive for the first time in months. Turning this down didn't even cross his mind, he wanted this more than he wanted anything else in his life. He had come to terms to never living a normal life, getting married, having children. Dangerous missions was all that he had.

Kingsley smiled, he had known that Harry would agree to this, though he didn't exactly like the reasons behind why he had agreed so readily. He swore to himself though that if Harry survived this solo assignment then he was going to make sure the poor young man retired and found a decent life for himself that didn't involve death or destruction and was of course void of Dark Wizards.

"Here are the files of the individuals you'll be working with," Kingsley said, taking up and handing over six files from his desk to Harry, who accepted them. "I suggest you study them carefully, they are certainly an interesting bunch. You'll have to be careful with the amount of magic you use around the man, Tony Stark, he seems to be something of a developer of computer software and weapons, items that will interfere with our magic and vice versa."

"Fantastic," Harry muttered sarcastically, "Though if they can't know what I am I don't suppose it will make much difference."

"I have something that might help," Kingsley said, "These muggles are fans of their gadgets and it would do no one any good to have members of the team disabled during a fight." As he spoke the Minister brought out a long, rectangular box, which he opened to show the contents. Inside were two silver bracelets which glimmered with a pearlescent shine that was definitely nothing from the muggle world. These were undoubtedly magical items and Harry stared at them curiously as he took the box in hand, the files resting on his lap. "I advise that these never come off, they are the only set in existence and it took a lot to acquire them on time."

"What are they?" Harry asked curiously as he ran his fingertips over the cool metal that seemed to glimmer beneath his touch.

"The two bracelets allow the wearer to more directly channel and control their magic, make it usable around muggle technology. They aren't infallible I'm afraid and there may still be interference, flickering lights and such but they will make a significant impact, though you should still use your magic sparingly." Kingsley looked to Harry as he admired the jewellery, feeling sorry for the young man and everything he had dealt with in his life time, only to have more thrust upon him.

"Do we know what threat they're facing that they need help with?" Harry asked, snapping the box closed and looking back at the Minister imploringly. He wanted as many of the facts as he could before he left this office because after tomorrow he would be in the field for an indefinite amount of time, unable to contact anyone or ask for help. He would be on his own. He couldn't wait.

"I believe you will be briefed when you arrive in New York, I'm afraid they insisted that you fly on an aeroplane rather than apperate. I have a file here with everything you'll need to know before you leave tomorrow morning, it includes your flight information too," Kingsley explained handing Harry yet another file, which was accepted.

"You still have the letters I wrote on file I assume," Harry asked, referring of course to the letters that every Auror wrote when he took up field work. Letters that were written for the loved ones left behind if anything was to happen in the line of duty. He knew that he wouldn't have time to talk to either of his friends before he left, if something happened to him while he was gone he needed to be sure they got those letters.

"One for Ronald Weasley and another for Hermione Granger," Kingsley confirmed with a nod of his head. He understood the need for Harry to confirm this but it didn't make him happy about it. It was almost as if he expected not to be coming back.

"Thank you," Harry said, standing up, taking the files and the box containing the bracelets with him, holding them in one arm as he offered out his other for the Minister to shake. Kingsley did just that, holding on to the young man's hand longer than was needed but they both understood.

"Good luck," the Minister said with finality. Harry nodded his head and turned to leave, stopping only when Kingsley spoke again, "Oh and Harry," he said.

"Yes," Harry asked, turning to face his old friend.

"Happy Birthday," he said with a sad smile. Harry said nothing in response, giving a small nod and leaving the Minister's office, he had a few more things to organise before heading for home, a few lose ends to tie up seeing as he wouldn't be back for a while.

-x

"He has agreed," Kingsley said as he took a seat in the small office that looked very sparse compared to his own. His brother sat across from him behind a large desk that was clear apart from a large computer monitor that Kingsley knew better than to go near.

"He will be on the flight arranged?" Nick Fury said in his heavy American accent. The two brothers could not have been more different. They shared a mother and little else, Kingsley's father had been a wizard and he had inherited that from him. Nick's father however had been a muggle, the two of them had grown up together in America with just their mother but Kingsley had wanted to travel the world and had left as soon as he had turned eighteen.

"Yes," Kingsley said with a sigh. He still didn't feel right sending Harry away, even though the intentions were good. Not telling Harry about the danger that he and the rest of the wizarding world was facing was a decision that the Minister for Magic had had to take very seriously and he still wasn't sure that he was doing the right thing.

"Then my team will be there to meet him," Nick said with a curt nod of his head.

"You will take care of him, he is... precious to our world," Kingsley said. He didn't want for his half brother to think Harry undeserving of the protection that he was asking for him. However he needed for Nick to understand just how important the young man was and despite his accomplishments, how fragile he was.

"I understand," Fury said, inclining his head, knowing how concerned his brother was about the boy. The two of them might not have been close, however Nick Fury liked to keep tabs on the goings on in his brothers world, if for no other reason than to monitor how likely it was to spill over into his world.

"How is our mother?" Kingsley asked, thinking that he ought to ask while he was here, it wasn't often that he travelled this far but the port key had been necessary. He would have to remove all traces of it when he returned to the Ministry later this evening to cover his tracks but he'd do a lot to keep Harry safe.

"As well as can be expected," Nick said somewhat tersely. There mother was suffering quite badly from dementia and lived in a home in America that her two son's paid a lot of money to keep her in so that she would be comfortable.

"I will be in contact to ensure of Harry's safe arrival," Kingsley said as he got to his feet, knowing that the meeting was over. They were both extremely busy men and they had very little to discuss, the small pleasantries already over and done with.

Nick Fury gave a nod of his head and got to his feet so that he could shake his brothers hand. They might not have been the closest of brothers but they respected one another greatly. "Harry Potter will be taken care of," Fury said as he reached forward and shook his brothers hand.

"This is much appreciated," Kingsley said earnestly, he truly did appreciate what his brother was doing for him. Keeping Harry away from the brewing war in England was something that he was going to be grateful for, for a long time. This was not a fight that Harry needed to throw himself in head first.

"The boy means something to you," Nick returned as a way of an explanation as to why he was doing this, however he wouldn't be himself if he didn't have some form of ulterior motive behind it as well.

The Avengers were a strong group of passionate fighters, however adding a wizard, especially one as powerful as Harry Potter was supposed to be, could only benefit the Avengers Initiative. Since New York, Fury had been fighting to prove that the Avengers were not a group of vigilantes. Protecting Potter was the best way to get them all together and working as a team, not causing mass destruction of public property.

"Yes, he does," Kingsley confirmed as he brought out the port key from within his robes, holding it in his hand ready for when it would activate in a few moments time.

The two impressive men stood staring at each other for a few moments more before the port key activated, pulling Kingsley by the navel and taking him back to his office in the Ministry of Magic and leaving Nick Fury alone to contemplate the arrival of Harry Potter.

-x

Harry had been home for two hours, he had showered and ensured that his suitcase was packed for the flight the next morning and of course everything that could give him away as a wizard had been left behind. He had stowed it all away, concealing it in secret compartments around his home that were heavily warded so that they would be safe in his absence. His London apartment felt strange without the personal reminders of his life scattered all over the place. It was now as empty and devoid of life as he felt since the end of the Great Battle of Hogwarts.

His mind whirled with information about his latest mission, going over all the facts, all the details in his mind. There was something different about this one, something that wasn't quite right. Harry was sure that there had been something that Kingsley had purposefully concealed from him, he had seen it in the older man's eyes. It was only that he trusted the man explicitly that he was agreeing to go at all. He knew that the Minister for Magic would never put him directly in harm's way just for the sake of it.

One thing was for sure though, whatever was to come from this mission, it would certainly be an adventure and he always did crave adventures. Harry had high hopes for this mission supplying him with the adrenaline rush and the danger that he craved as part of his life ever since he had defeated Voldemort. It was an added bonus that these were new people to him, a new country even, completely apart from the wizarding world and no contact with it either. No one would know who he was, no one would judge him or want to be near him just because of the Dark Witches and Wizards he had killed and captured and that thought was freeing.

Having poured himself a rather large tumbler of fire whiskey, Harry settled himself in his favourite armchair. Normally the fire would be on but seeing as it was the middle of summer it wasn't needed tonight. He had the files that Kingsley had given him in hand and he had ensured the bottle of his favourite potent alcoholic beverage was within reaching distance on the coffee table in front of him, the bracelets that he had yet to put on beside it.

Opening the first folder he took in the several photographs of a beautiful young woman who had a fierce edge to her looks, as if she had been through hell in her life time and come out the other side triumphant. Natasha Romanoff, code name Black Widow. She had an impressive list of skills and talents that was for sure. They included excellent marksmanship and martial arts, though the fact that seductress was listed amongst her skill-set told Harry that she was not a woman to be trifled with. He scanned over her history, digesting it all before moving on to the next one.

The second folder contained information regarding a rather ruggedly handsome young man called Clint Barton, code name Hawk-eye. Harry took a slow sip of his fire whiskey, relishing the burn as it slid down his throat as he surveyed the single photograph that had been included. He seemed less inclined to have his picture taken than Natasha Romanoff it seemed. He was a muggle, just like Natasha, though just like her he also had an impressive list of skills. Whoever these muggles were they didn't appear to be your standard, everyday muggles, they were just so much more.

Reading over the information provided about Clint Barton, Harry realised that both of the Avengers he had read about so far would have a solid bond that would make a great fighting team that was for sure. Those kinds of bonds were key when it came to fighting as a team. It was perhaps why none of his partnerships with other Auror's had worked out once he got to the Ministry. He had never had that bond with them, not like he had had with Ron and Hermione during the war.

Ron had been considering a career as an Auror and Harry was all for it, thinking that the two of them would have made excellent and unstoppable partners during field work. However since the birth of Rose, Ron had been less inclined to life threatening idiocy and even though Hermione understood the need for Auror's she didn't really want her husband joining the ranks of the dark wizard catchers, putting his life in danger every time he went to work.

Ron had gone through all the necessary stages of becoming an Auror and Harry had thought that finally the two of them would have had the chance to work together. Ron had even got so far as to write the required letters to loved ones that the Ministry recommended any new Auror write in case something went wrong in the field. Hermione it seemed had talked him out of joining at the last minute, much to Harry's disappointment, though he could understand why she had done it. Just in case Ron had changed his mind however, Harry had ensured that all his files and even his personal letters were kept on file at the Ministry so that he could just pick up the application process where he left off or if he ever changed his mind or managed to convincer Hermione to change hers.

Shaking these thoughts from his head, Harry refocused his attention back on his work. He had a mission to prepare for, he couldn't allow himself to wander so freely down memory lane, which had become a dangerous path to tread of late. It was painful there and he couldn't be distracted when he had so much to prepare for the following day. Thinking about his friends, the friends who he had somehow distanced himself from over the months and years since the final battle. Nothing had been the same after that, too much had changed, they had been through too much together. Time had severed the once strong bond they had once had.

Concentrating more fully on the task at hand, Harry opened the third folder, which contained details about a man called Bruce Banner who seemed to have spectacular anger management issues if the information provided was anything to go by. His code name was the Hulk and judging by the first picture of him provided in the file Harry could see why.

The creature that Bruce Banner turned into was truly horrific and the destruction that he could cause was absolutely astonishing. It was the man behind the giant green rage monster that fascinated Harry the most however. He was desperate to talk to Bruce, it was only a shame that they couldn't talk potions as he was sure he would have been able to help the poor man control the monster inside of him better. He had never been the best when it came to potions but he was still sure that they would have been able to help him.

Though Bruce Banner was not going to be the only one of the Avengers team that Harry wanted to have a meeting of minds with. Tony Stark was another of them that he was looking forward to meeting when the time came. Any man who could survive what he did and build and invent what he had was a man Harry was keen to meet. He understood why he needed the bracelets to more concentrate and control his magic when he read about the man whose codename was Ironman.

As he flicked through the reports and documentation he was beginning to realise that these were not simply just muggles, they were so much more, it was clear why S.H.I.E.L.D had recruited them. That was before he even got to the file on Thor. Thor was something else entirely. To deal with his file, Harry needed a second drink. Refilling his tumbler with more fire whiskey after downing what was left of the first he continued to read.

Thor Odinson wasn't even from earth it seemed, something which blew Harry's mind a little. He was used to magic now and even the eccentricities of the wizarding world that he had never known before he was eleven. However to discover that there were other worlds, Aliens even, it was astounding, even to him. He certainly wasn't complaining however, Harry would have gladly accepted the existence of Alien's just for the chance to ogle Thor who was an attractive man by anyone's standards.

The single photograph in his file showed that he was a pure Adonis of a man, it wasn't surprising that he was literally a God. The God of Thunder to be precise. He won a load of brownie points with Harry just because he had declared himself the protector of the earth.

It took a while to move on to the final file as he really appreciated the rather handsome God of Thunder, taking his time to read his file as he downed his second and poured his third tumbler of fire whiskey. He had become particularly enthralled with the thought of the magic hammer, the name of which had confused him and he didn't even want to attempt to pronounce it. Though he had to admit that he was keen to see it in action.

The final file was the one that really caught Harry's interest though. Out of all the others where there were mentions of Aliens and transformations from human to giant green rage monsters, they were handsome, smart and Harry had found himself captivated by the information he had been given about them. However it was Steve Rogers, code name Captain America, that captured Harry's attention so aptly now.

He was by no means the strongest or the smartest, he wasn't even the most handsome of the group, however, from the moment he opened the file and he saw the undoubtedly strong, muscular and handsome man with blond hair and sky blue eyes, Harry was completely transfixed by him. Maybe it was because he was a little drunk from the copious amounts of fire whiskey he was drinking but there seemed to be something about Steve Rodgers and his endearingly impish smile and boyishly good looks that drew Harry in and made Harry's stomach tingle in a way that it hadn't in years.

The man who was code named Captain America had been through a war just as he, himself had and would undoubtedly hold the same emotional and physical scars from it. A shiver went through Harry's body as he read over the file for Steve Rodgers. He truly was a man out of his time and Harry found himself utterly transfixed by him as he read over everything he had done in his life time. The things that had happened to him, everything he had survived, Harry truly admired him.

A combination of re-reading the report on Steve several times and the fifth tumbler of fire whiskey saw Harry falling into bed at almost three in the morning, the files on the Avengers on his bedside table, the one on Captain America sitting open on the top of the pile. Harry's head was full of new information, the faces of the Avengers haunted his dreams that night. A blissful release from the nightmares that usually plagued him.

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><p>This is my first ever cross over fanfiction so I really hope that you enjoy it. I will be updating as regularly as I can but I have a few other fics on the go at the moment as please be patient. For the moment please take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	2. First Impressions

The Affliction of War

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><p>Had a day off from work and finally got this chapter finished! Thank you so much for your reviews, I'm amazed at the response I have had for this! Please enjoy this new chapter!<p>

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><p>Chapter Two – First impressions<p>

The irritating and dreaded whistling of the alarm on Harry's wand was what woke him only five hours later with a throbbing headache and the urge to vomit. After he had done just that and taken one of his hang over relief potions he was feeling mildly better but no less apprehensive about the day that was to come.

His flight was due to take off in three hours and he was running a little behind. He was just thankful that he was ready to leave. Showering, scrubbing his teeth and pulling on his clothes took less than half an hour and it even made him feel a little more human as the potion began to take effect.

The very last thing that Harry did before grabbing his wand and bags was to slip on each of the bracelets, knowing that he would need them as he ventured into the muggle world, especially considering he was about to board a plane. He didn't really want to risk messing up the electronics on board, the results could potentially be catastrophic. He felt a little apprehensive about heading to the airport, having never been on a plane before and was glad that he had had his muggle clothing adapted to conceal his wand so that it was still usable but remained hidden from view and also impossible for non-magic folk to be able to detect.

An unexpected knock to his front door startled Harry out of his thoughts as he went through his mental check-list of everything he had to remember before he left for the airport. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at his front door, with suspicion. Harry had not been expecting any visitors, Kingsley had not mentioned anything about anyone coming to see him before his departure either and very few people had the knowledge of his home address. Above all else, Harry valued his privacy and had taken great care to keep his home as his sanctuary. Not even his casual flings had been permitted back to his home.

He had always been reluctant to erect wards around his apartment. Harry was in a dangerous line of work, that was true, however, he had never wanted to end up being that paranoid. He had a basic anti-theft charm and other such enchantments but he had never wanted to go to the extreme that he had had to go to while on the run during the war when he was seventeen. Instead he kept the address a closely guarded secret, given to only a select few that he knew he could trust.

Edging slowly and quietly towards the door, wand drawn, Harry peered through the peep hole, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was on the other side. Putting his Auror training to good use, Harry steadied his breathing, making himself as silent as was possible. He didn't want to be heard as he neared the front door.

Through the distorted glass of the peep hole there was no sign of any one. It gave Harry a rather uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, something wasn't right and his instincts were rarely wrong. He had spent years honing them and trusted his gut instinct without hesitation. With this feeling nagging at his gut, he recalled the suspicion he'd felt the night before that Kingsley hadn't been telling him absolutely everything. Harry honestly didn't think that the Minister for Magic had any reason to cause him harm, he trusted Kingsley, however, he was starting to think that the Minister might have had an ulterior motive for sending him to America on this mission that he hadn't disclosed.

Carefully backing away from the front door, Harry went to grab his bags, along the way, changing his course as he remembered that he had left the files on the Avengers and the mission on his bedside table. Under no circumstances could he leave those there to be discovered; he knew he needed to cover his tracks or the mission would fail before he even managed to leave the country. Moving quickly across his living room, leaving his bags behind, he headed for his bedroom. Harry's instincts were screaming at him that he had to move quickly. Whoever had been knocking on his door was now pounding against it, he didn't have a whole lot of time left.

Gathering up the files, shrinking them down and pocketing them was all he had time to do before a huge explosion blasted his front door off its hinges and sent it flying across the room, colliding with the opposite wall, the wood shattering, sending splinters in all directions. His time was up and he had to leave; Harry wouldn't even be able to grab his bags but thankfully all they contained were his clothes. Everything of importance was on his person or under such heavy protective enchantments that not even Kingsley Shacklebolt would have been able to break them, not even with the help of the entire Ministry.

This knowledge still didn't make it any easier for Harry to leave, however. This apartment held his most treasured possessions. His invisibility cloak, his Hogwarts memories, old family photographs and pictures of those that he loved. Everything that Harry held dear to him was either here, within these four walls or in his vault at Gringotts and he was about to leave both behind for an indefinite amount of time, possibly never to return.

It went against all of his Auror training to run from a fight, but he could hear several voices shouting what sounded like strange spells into his apartment; he was just lucky that he was in his bedroom and not in the firing line. He didn't need to be in the living room to know that he was drastically outnumbered, though no one had entered his home... yet. Harry was just thankful that he had moved away from the door when he had, otherwise he might never have made it to the airport.

The mission he was on was more important than anything else now. This place was just brick and cement, his possessions, though irreplaceable to him were second to his memories and he was confident in his ability to conceal things that he didn't want anyone to find. Whoever was out there, set on attacking him could tear apart this place and find nothing. It was with this confidence that Harry closed his eyes and apparated to the designated point that had been set up just for him close to the airport.

A sense of unease settled over him as he departed his home, wondering how it was that someone had found him. He didn't like to think that Ron, Hermione or even Kingsley, who were the only three that knew his home address, would have betrayed him. Even then none of them had ever been there in person, Harry tended to visit them if the need arose to do so.

There was also something about the jets of light that had been fired into the apartment, something about them had seemed off, like magic but not. Harry's head was all over the place, his mind racing with possibilities but there was no way to tell what had been going on or who had been attacking him and why. Harry wasn't sticking around long enough to find out, not when the odds were stacked so highly against him. His gut was telling him that whatever was going on it was linked, somehow, to this mission with the Avengers. The best way to get information was to stick to the plan and that meant boarding his plane to New York.

-x

"What do you think he's like?" Bruce asked as he scanned over the file he had been given. He had been the first to arrive to the mystery location aside from Director Fury and had been reading over the rather scarce file ever since. Steve had been the next one to make an appearance, the loud roar of his motorcycle announcing his arrival. Clint and Natasha not far behind him, arriving together in a sleek black sports car.

Each of the Avengers had been summoned together, for the first time since the aftermath of New York. Some had been more reluctant than others when they had received the summons from S.H.I.E.L.D. They were using one of Nick Fury's random locations which the Director had deemed safe for the duration that they would need it. It was a vast, empty warehouse space that had been furnished with a table and chairs for their use only. Dank and depressing it might have been, however, considering the confidential nature of their conversation no one had been expecting luxury.

When discussing the imminent arrival of their new charge only the most secret of locations was satisfactory to Director Fury. He knew how important this young man was, his brother had made that very clear to him. He wasn't sure who he would be able to trust with the small file that they had on Potter and he didn't want to risk it falling into the wrong hands. The last thing they needed was to put Harry in more danger.

"Stuck up, conceited little prince probably," Clint said unhappily, Natasha nodding in agreement. Barton had taken one brief glance and disregarded the file having already made up his mind about who this Harry Potter bloke would likely be. Natasha had read the file cover to cover with a blank expression on her face, which Clint knew to mean that she was unimpressed with what she was seeing. He didn't need to ask her for her opinion, he knew her well enough by now to be able to read her silence.

The four present were all either sitting or standing around a large rectangular table, Bruce and Natasha still scanning over the file, Clint however had his feet propped up on the table, tilting himself back on his chair, looking extremely bored. Director Fury hadn't bothered to sit down, he stood at the head of the table, surveying the gathered Avengers, even with two of the team missing from the group.

Of course the Avengers were not privy to any of the great things that Harry had done, that was all top secret information; the file they had been given was more than a little vague, mentioning a war in which Harry was the hero, the saver of many lives but there was very little else. It couldn't even clarify what war he had fought in without giving away too much. Fury could understand why the Avengers were a little disgruntled about the situation.

"You don't know that," Steve chastised as he read over all the notes, taking care not to miss any of the details, just as Natasha was doing. Steve just wanted to be sure that he had all the information on the young man before he arrived. He wasn't convinced that Clint's attitude was the right one to have, after all they knew nothing about Harry Potter, though Steve had to admit that Clint had at least shown up to this meeting, which was a darn sight more than Tony and Thor.

"I'm curious as to why he is our responsibility to look after," Bruce said, thinking that this seemed to be too minor a task to call them all back together. Babysitting a twenty-seven year old man seemed to be a waste of all of their talents. It wasn't as if there weren't other more important missions for them to be occupying their time with. They all had other occupations outside of the Avengers Initiative, however mediocre they might have been. Thor didn't even belong on their planet, it was unlikely that he would return to earth for such a simple task.

"And why we have to pretend he's one of us," Clint said somewhat bitterly, feet still propped on the table, keeping his chair tilting backwards, Natasha nodding in agreement once again at this as she shut the file and threw it down on the table, having learnt everything she needed to learn from it. None of them really cared for babysitting duty, especially not for a deluded young man who believed he was worthy of being part of the Avengers initiative. None of them could really understand why Fury was willing to put up with it, he wasn't really a man who took nonsense from anyone.

"You should give him a chance, Harry might just surprise you," Nick said knowingly; he of course knew all about the amazing abilities that the young wizard had and the many astounding things that he had achieved in his short life. He felt that it was a shame that he hadn't been able to tell his gathered team of extraordinary individuals the extent of Harry Potter's accomplishments. These were the reason Fury was confident that Potter would fit in with the team so well. He was, however, slightly ashamed of them all that they would discount Harry so easily when they knew so little about him.

"This is a waste of time," Natasha said, her voice neutral. She didn't understand why Fury had demanded she be here, he had taken her off another mission for babysitting duty, to say she was a little pissed was an understatement. This was not what she had had in mind when she had joined the Avenger's Initiative.

"Sorry I'm late," Tony said as he threw open the door and strolled in, clad in his full Ironman suit minus the helmet, a Starbucks Frappuccino in hand. "Wait… no I'm not," he added with a mischievous smile as he grabbed Natasha's discarded file to read up on the reason he had been called away from his work and Pepper.

"Good of you to join us, Stark," Steve said disapprovingly, glancing up from the file only briefly, glaring at the billionaire for a moment before turning his attention back to the photograph of the young man that had been attached to the file. He was trying to convince himself that he was so enthralled by the file because he was trying to do his job but he couldn't lie to himself, he knew that that was not the only reason he was studying the photograph so that he had memorized every detail.

Fury watched the way that Steve studied the file rather intently, focusing on the two photographs that had been supplied. The first of the two pictures attached to Harry's file was the one that had been taken of him when he had first entered the Ministry of Magic as an Auror when he was only seventeen. Of course it didn't move, those particular bits of magic had been removed from the photo before it had been handed over to the muggles but it was still a rather striking photo. Harry's black hair was sticking up all over the place in its usual lacklustre style, his brilliantly green eyes looking directly into the camera, no longer hidden behind the glasses that he had worn throughout his childhood as they had been against Ministry regulation.

A second picture had also been supplied, this one far more recent; gone was the small awkward teenager that he had once been, Harry was a young man now. It had been taken when he had been promoted to Head of the Auror office, though, of all of them gathered only Nick Fury was privy to that information. Harry had bulked up between the times that the two pictures were taken due to his Auror training and he had gained a few new battle scars too.

Although he was still smaller than he should have been for his age, he was rather impressive when the two photographs were compared. Steve couldn't take his eyes off either of them. There was something about this man that had captured his attention and he couldn't work out what it was. He thought that maybe it was the fact that they had both been through war that had ignited this kinship he now felt, though it didn't state which war Harry had fought in and Steve was curious.

Clint and Natasha were sat saying nothing, both of them looking rather unhappy still. Clint insisting on acting like a petulant teenager and Natasha looking as if she might kill someone if provoked. Tony's constant and deliberate slurping through a straw was not helping to ease the tension in the room either and was actually making the situation worse.

"It mentions that he was in a war," Steve said, voicing his thoughts as he continued to scan over the information in the file. So little detail had been given to them and it made Steve suspicious as to why this might be when they were being asked to protect him. He found himself wanting to know why it was going to take five, if not six of them, if Thor made an appearance at all, to protect one man.

"That information is, unfortunately, classified," Fury said with a tone of exasperation, trying to ignore the irritating slurping sound coming from Tony as he drank his Starbucks while perusing the file, a look of boredom on his face.

Fury was bound by the statute of secrecy to keep what he knew about Harry Potter and the wizarding world to himself. Even if he had wanted to share what he knew he wouldn't have been able to tell the gathered Avengers anything about the Great Battle of Hogwarts or the Dark Wizard, Voldemort, whom so many had died to defeat. The information that he was privy to just wasn't information that they needed to know to ensure that Harry remained out of the clutches of whatever danger Kingsley believed him to be in.

"Classified?" Clint demanded, clearly outraged by this response. Removing his legs from the table and sitting forward so that he could better glare at Fury, even Natasha folded her arms over her chest looking rather put out that she was being asked to do this task that was so clearly beneath her and her skill level. "If we're protecting the little brat then we should know."

"If it's the reason we have to protect him then we should know," Natasha stated, clearly just as annoyed as Clint at the fact more information was being withheld from them. She wasn't a woman that was accustomed to being kept in the dark or being denied what she wanted.

Steve said nothing, more than happy to remain looking at the picture in his hand, studying the young man as Clint had his little temper tantrum. Steve couldn't deny that he was curious, Harry was meant to be a war hero, a man who had saved many lives and taken down the one responsible for starting the war in the first place. Whoever had written the file on the young man clearly thought very highly of him.

"Information surrounding Harry Potter is classified," Fury repeated, more firmly this time, not liking Barton's attitude or that Natasha was taking the same stance as him, though Fury had a feeling that Stark was going to be a whole lot worse. Tony had remained unmoving, scanning over the file and slurping gracelessly at his Frappuccino.

"If Director Fury says that the information is classified we should accept that," Banner said, forever the calm voice of reason. "When does he arrive?"

Natasha was still looking rather dubious about the whole situation and shared a look with Clint who jerked his head in a brief acknowledgement that they were on the same page. He didn't like this any more than she did. The two of them had worked for S.H.I.E.L.D before, they knew just how many secrets Fury was capable of keeping and they knew better than most that if he didn't want them to know then only Stark would be able to get the information from the computers, which was perhaps why they were meeting at a safe house that didn't have any.

"His flight is due to land at 12:42 this afternoon at JFK, you will be there to meet him off the plane," Fury said, keeping his voice firm and authoritative. As usual he felt as he he were talking to a bunch of rowdy school children who didn't know how to behave and had lost control of their hormones.

"I'll send a driver to collect his highness," Tony said as he closed the file and threw it unceremoniously on to the table. "Is that all?"

"No," Fury said, his patience being tested by the arrogance of Stark. The others might all have felt as if their time was being wasted, however, Tony was acting like it. "I have requested that he stay at Stark Tower along with the rest of the team."

"Then I'll send Happy," Tony replied dismissively as he put down his now empty Frappuccino cup on the table in a rather decisive action.

"The whole point is that you are there to meet him," Fury said, steadily losing all patience with the arrogant attitude that Stark was displaying. Clint and Natasha had both gone on the defensive and actually seemed as if they might agree with Tony. Banner was the only one sitting out of the fight, as was his nature to do so.

"I will be there," Steve said as he finally closed the file, tearing his eyes from the pictures and refocusing on the gathered group in front of him.

"I suppose, if we are simply meeting him at the airport then I will too," Bruce said with a sigh, thinking that it was probably for the best. He didn't exactly trust Director Fury entirely but if he was asking them to do something then there was likely a good reason for it.

"Excellent, that covers it then, see you at my place for dinner, we'll have Shawarma," Tony said with a wry smile, remembering the last time they had eaten it together.

"Better be an improvement on what we ate last time," Clint commented making Natasha roll her eyes. Fury didn't seem impressed with their banter either, his mouth forming a stiff, unimpressed line.

"This is a serious mission, even if you don't agree with that assessment, this man is an important asset and there are people out there, serious people, that want to hurt him. You will all be there to meet him and ensure that he reaches Stark tower safely." By this point Nick Fury was really forcing himself to stay calm, he knew that they were frustrated about not being told anything more than the minimum information but he needed them to take this mission seriously.

Nick was more than aware that Harry could take of himself if it came down to it but the whole point was that he didn't have to. Kingsley had sent him away to protect him and that was what Nick was intending to do, even if the boy didn't want to be protected. Fury didn't want Harry to have any reason or excuse to use his abilities to protect himself.

"Fine," Natasha said reluctantly, glaring at Fury. Clint gave a rather stiff incline of his head to show that he too agreed to go even if he did think it ridiculously stupid, crossing his muscle bound arms over his chest, still looking decidedly grumpy.

"I have a meeting," Tony said with a shrug, an action that looked utterly ludicrous while he was in his Ironman suit.

"Cancel it," Fury said impatiently, "Or send Pepper, hell, she does your job better than you do," he added with a menacing glare to the rather pompous billionaire.

"Fine, I'll check my schedule but you're paying for the Shawarma," he said with a smile that vanished as his mask slid into place and he took flight, leaving through the open door. The other gathered Avengers all begun to get to their feet knowing that the meeting was now over.

Steve was the last one to get up from the table, lost in his thoughts about the mysterious new charge they would have in a matter of hours. 12.42 at JFK. Checking his watch, Steve realised that he only had three hours until he had to be there. He decided that it would be time well spent checking out the security at the airport and ensuring that when Harry arrived, he would be safe.

-x

After eight hours on a plane Harry wasn't sure how muggles put up with it. He had been sat next to a large gentleman who had not only taken up his own seat but half of Harry's too. Three rows in front of him a young mother had struggled with her toddler for the entire flight which had included screaming fits from the child and a lot of bribery to try and get the child to calm down. The mother had also been making numerous embarrassed apologies to the rest of the passengers for the child's behaviour.

Harry didn't even want to think about the meal he had been served that had been practically inedible and looked worse. It had tasted much like what he imagined cardboard to taste like and in the end had satisfied himself with a couple of beers, though he had been careful not to over do it as he was still a little fragile from the previous evening and he was technically working.

All in all Harry was thrilled to be disembarking from the plane. It was not an experience he wanted to repeat in a hurry. When the mission was over, if he survived it, then he was going to have to have words with Kingsley about getting him a port key home because there was no way that he was suffering through that ordeal ever again. What kind of idiot took a child on a long haul flight?

Breezing through boarder control and security, Harry bypassed baggage collection, realising that he would probably have to go shopping at some point. He detested shopping, really detested it. Usually Harry used owl order for anything he needed, which had the added bonus of avoiding contact with people.

Shopping for regular people required going out of the house, which was tiresome for Harry with the papers looking to photograph his every move, not to mention the fans that were always dying to get his attention. It was usually all too much for Harry who didn't get a lot of free time and therefore refused to spend it being uncomfortable in public.

The casual crowds in the airport were enough to make Harry a little nervous and extremely on edge. He took comfort in the fact that he had his wand and could use it if necessary without getting it out. He wasn't unprotected but he still wasn't going to be at ease until he had located the team he was going to be working with. He hoped that things might be calmer for him now that he was in muggle America, after all no one would know him here.

Harry's heart sunk however when he came out, into the arrivals area and swarms of people were milling around, some taking pictures, others just generally buzzing with excitement. Harry couldn't help but tense up until he realised that none of the fuss or the hype was for him. A wave of relief washed over him as this realisation hit and he actually smiled when he realised that all the fuss was for someone that he recognized; Tony Stark.

He was minus his Ironman suit today, wearing simple jeans and t-shirt, sunglasses sitting atop his head as he signed autographs and smiled at some females who were fawning over him, telling him how amazing he is.

Scanning the crowd Harry spotted a few more faces that he recognized from the pictures that he had been given. Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton. Harry was a little disappointed that Thor wasn't present. That was one superhuman that Harry wanted to see up close and personally if he could.

Feeling a little awkward and not knowing how to introduce himself, Harry headed towards the gathered superheroes. He was feeling rather self conscious as he realised that Clint and Natasha were looking rather unhappy and even a little bored. Steve was standing with his arms folded over his broad chest looking extremely impressive as he scanned the crowd and Bruce was looking a little nervous about being in such a busy place, something which Harry could relate to. He wasn't fond of crowds either.

It was Steve who spotted Harry first, the two of them making eye contact through the mass of people. He turned to say something to the others before he began making his way through the bustling assemblage of returning holidaymakers, towards Harry who couldn't help but smile at the stunning example of a man that was approaching him. He was dressed simply in beige trousers and a white t-shirt but the simplicity of the outfit only made him more impressive.

"It's nice to meet you Harry," Steve said as the two of them reached each other, Steve offering out his hand for Harry to shake, which he did. The gesture was warm and soft, the smile on the older man's face making him appear all the more handsome.

"You too, Steve," Harry returned, smiling back at the Avenger. He was beginning to wish that he had taken the time to stop at a bathroom before coming out to meet his future team mates. Steve was stood before him neatly dressed, blond hair combed over to one side whereas Harry knew himself to be rather dishevelled from the long flight, his hair no doubt a mess and he didn't even want to consider what his breath smelt like.

"Do you have any bags?" Bruce asked, coming up behind Steve and looking a little sheepish as he interrupted them without properly introducing himself, keen to make a quick exit.

"No," Harry said rather regretfully, "I ran into some difficulty as I left my apartment this morning, I had to leave them behind."

"Difficulty?" Natasha asked as she and Clint joined the three of them. Her tone was one of discontent as she looked down her nose at the young man in front of her, wanting it clear exactly what she thought of his presence here with them. In her eyes he was not worthy of a place amongst them.

"I was attacked," Harry said, picking up on her tone easily enough and going on the defensive himself. If she wasn't going to play nicely then neither was he. He had had enough experience of wizards trying to kill him, he didn't think that Natasha would be any match for him, even with her rather impressive list of skills.

"Perhaps we should leave this discussion for more private locations," Bruce suggested, clearly even more on edge with the threat of them all bickering in the middle of the airport. He couldn't stop himself as he mentally counted up the number of innocent civilians that would die if he lost control.

"Yes," Steve agreed, "If we can tear Stark away from his admirers." He was frowning as he glanced in Tony's direction, not approving of the egotistical behaviour that he was demonstrating. He could remember a time when that was him and he didn't miss it.

The tension between their small group was making Harry a little uncomfortable as he realised just how unwelcome he was among the Avengers. Whoever had requested help from Kingsley, they hadn't asked the opinion of those gathered here.

"He can take care of himself," Natasha said stiffly, casting a glare over her shoulder where Tony was now posing for a picture with a charming grin and also making the peace sign with three over excited fan-girls that had low cut tops, which exposed their breasts and declared their love of Ironman.

"I'm sure he will follow when he realises that we are leaving," Clint pointed out, arms still folded across his chest, looking anywhere but in Harry's direction. He hadn't so much as acknowledged the young man since he had arrived, clearly determined to be very standoffish towards him.

"I'm sure he won't want to miss the Shawarma," Bruce said, torn between disapproval and amusement, however he was in agreement with Clint that Tony would follow when he was ready. He wasn't the type of guy to go with the flow, he did his own thing and didn't care about anyone else. There were a lot of things about Tony Stark that were inexplicable to him.

Bruce often thought that trying to reason with Stark was much akin to reasoning with a stubborn toddler who didn't want to do as they were told, except Stark was worse. Difficult, frustrating and generally a waste of time and energy, though he did admire the man's mind, that was something he envied.

"Do I dare ask what Shawarma is?" Harry asked, his voice little more than a whisper as he leaned a little closer to Steve, taking the opportunity to brush against the firm biceps and finding himself wanting to touch them a whole lot more. He wasn't ready to talk to the whole group yet, especially not when Clint and Natasha were being so cold towards him. Steve seemed nice enough though and Bruce at least seemed not to mind that he was there.

"It's food," Steve explained, slightly amused that Harry had never heard of it before and overly aware that the younger man was deliberately getting closer than he needed to, "A favourite of Stark's," he added. As he had said this, Steve motioned for the group to head towards the exit. He took the lead, Harry staying close to him, still uncertain about the others.

Harry might not have been sure that they were willing to accept him into the group without question, something he had thought might happen, however he wasn't exactly going to complain about the fact that he was here. This was what he had wanted after all, to be out on assignment again, fighting against those that needed to be fought. He was more than happy to take a back seat for the time being and simply observe for a little while, and what a sight he had to observe. He had three very tall, muscular men to ogle at and then there was Bruce of course who wasn't as tall or as muscular as the others but he was still an impressive man.

He had been hooking up with as many witches and wizards as he could back home, being in another country just gave him new material to work with. However the added bonus of being in another country was that no one knew who he was. He didn't have to worry about the press or anyone judging him, here he was just a man and he could sleep with whoever he wanted.

"Well it can't possibly be worse than the crap they served on the plane," Harry said with a forced smile and laugh. He heard Clint give an amused snort just behind him but Harry didn't turn to acknowledge him.

Steve smiled at the comment, "I wouldn't be so sure," he replied as they neared the exit. Harry didn't bother to turn to see the reactions of the others, not when Steve was smiling so sweetly at him. Steve stepped out of the building first before holding the door open for Harry to step through.

Bruce came next, followed by Natasha, Clint bringing up the rear, all of them on alert, harry didn't fail to notice that they all seemed to form a kind of protective circle around him. They were all a little relieved when Tony started heading their way too, waving off his many adoring fans who were trying to follow, turning to blow them kisses before coming to join the rest of the Avengers team plus Harry on the pavement outside in the blistering heat.

"So where is he?" Tony asked as he slid his sunglasses into place, glancing around his friends expectantly, rolling up his sleeves, exposing his toned forearms as he crossed them over his chest, biceps bulging. It was a good thing that he had covered his eyes because when Natasha pointed to Harry, Tony couldn't have stopped himself from frowning. Harry was not what he had expected. "Okay then, I thought you'd be... taller."

"I'll work on improving that," Harry bit back with a roll of his eyes, giving Tony his best smile. Stark actually smiled in response, liking the sassy retort and how quick it had been delivered. He had a feeling that he was going to like Harry.

"Travelling light?" He asked in amusement, noticing that Harry didn't appear to have any bags with him.

"You mean short people need changes of clothes,... huh, who would have thought," Harry retorted as two large black cars pulled up to the curb, both of them looking rather official with the S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the doors.

"I like you," Tony said pointing his finger towards Harry who couldn't help but smile at, what he considered to be, a high compliment coming from Tony Stark. Harry hadn't been expecting to like Tony as much, his mind sure, after all Stark had created a great many impressive things, even when you didn't factor in the Iron man suit. Tony was much like what Harry thought Fred and George might be rolled into one person with a little bit of Seamus thrown in.

Thinking of his friends back home however had the smile falling from his lips rather fast and he needed to find something to focus on before he allowed his memories to overwhelm him. To hide how he was feeling, Harry refocused on the cars that had arrived for them where a man at the butt end of middle aged was stepping out.

Harry had to take a moment to take this man in as he didn't know who he was, he hadn't been in any of the files that he had been sent. He was a rather serious looking gentleman, wearing a black suit and carrying a metal brief case, which he put on the floor in front of Tony.

"Mr Stark," the man greeted as he extended his hand out for Tony to take. Harry stood beside Steve observing everything going on and he didn't miss the hoards of fans that were heading for the exit, looking to follow Tony out of the airport. Clint and Natasha had also seen the hoards heading their way and had closed in around Harry, almost like they were protecting him, something which confused Harry a little.

"Happy," Tony returned, acknowledging the man and accepting the gesture that Happy offered. Harry thought it a rather strange name for a man but he wasn't about to question this, far too content to just observe for the moment.

"TONY WE LOVE YOU!" A chorus of girls shrieked as they departed the airport, clearly intent on following Stark, who turned to smile at them, giving them a small wave.

"Shall we get moving?" Bruce asked, looking around nervously, feeling rather exposed standing out in the open as they were. He also didn't want to give the Ironman fans a chance to swarm them, which it seemed they were more than willing to do to get a piece of Tony.

"I'm not sure your ego will fit in one car, Stark," Steve said as he turned his back on the shrieking females, ushering Harry towards the vehicles that were waiting for them.

"Good thing I wasn't intending to travel in the car then," Tony retorted with his trademark smirk as he pressed a button on his watch and the briefcase that Happy had put at their feet began to expand and unfold into what Harry recognized as being the Ironman suit.

"Not bad," Harry commented as he took in the impressive sight of Tony now that he was Ironman. He could certainly appreciate how good Stark looked clad in red and gold metal. Though, Harry was fairly sure that Tony Stark was a man that would look good in anything he wore, or in fact with nothing on at all.

"Stark, cover us from the sky, Barton, Romanoff in the car behind, Banner in with Potter and me," Steve instructed, realising that having Tony use his suit to fly home was actually rather a good idea. It meant that someone was watching their back from above.

Harry was looking at Steve as if he were slightly crazy, he thought all of this was a bit much if he were honest. He was a new team member sure but he didn't think that that required any special treatment. He also wanted to see Ironman take off and wasn't about to let himself be rushed into the car before he had seen it.

"See you in ten," Tony said, directing this to Harry right before his mask slid into place and he projected himself into the air. Harry couldn't help but smile, the fan girls squealing at the sight of their idol taking flight.

"In the car, Harry," Bruce said gently, knowing that they had to leave.

Harry, however, just smirked, "Oh no, after you," he said, casting a glance over towards Steve and raking his eyes up and down the large, handsome man's body. "I'd be an idiot to miss the opportunity to snuggle between two handsome men in the back seat of a car."

Steve and Bruce shared a look between them that was a mixture of horror and amusement before Bruce climbed into the back of the vehicle, Harry clambering in after him before Steve got in last, closing the door behind him and they were off, heading for Stark tower.

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><p>What did you think? Leave a review and let me know!<p> 


	3. The Oncoming Storm

The Afflictions of War

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><p>I am utterly speechless about the amount of love and support for this story already! Thank you so much and enjoy!<p>

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><p>Chapter Three – The oncoming storm<p>

Harry had to lean over Bruce a little to see all the way to the top of the ninety-three stories of Stark Tower, placing his hand on Bruce's thigh to brace himself as the car trundled along the busy Manhattan street that was teeming with mid-afternoon traffic. Admittedly it was rather an impressive building, towering over almost everything else around it. Though, after twenty-five minutes in the car with Happy driving them while telling them all about it, Harry knew far more than he ever wanted to about the building.

He was now aware that the tower was powered by an arc reactor, which apparently was capable of sustaining the tower for a full year without sustaining any cost to the city, a fact that Happy bragged as if he had been the one to invent the device. Harry had read just how brilliant Tony Stark's mind was, but even Harry had to admit that that was quite an achievement. Of course, all this information was useless to Harry and he cared very little about it regardless of how enthusiastic Happy was as he shared it. The man had such pride in his voice and Harry had to admit that it was somewhat endearing.

It was, however, a little hard for Harry to listen to what Happy was telling them, he kept getting distracted. He found himself much more interested in how Steve's thigh felt against his own in the compact back seat that the three of them were squished on to. Not to mention that his hand had remained on Bruce's thigh and wasn't going anywhere. When Harry had first seen Bruce, his first impression of him had seen him as a small man, at least small in comparison to the others. Now that he was between Steve and Bruce, Harry was rethinking this evaluation. Not that he minded being sandwiched between the two large and attractive men, it certainly wasn't the first time he had been and just remembering that was giving him a few interesting ideas.

"Since the battle of New York, Mr Stark has been re-branding Stark Tower as Avenger's Tower," Happy said, drawing Harry from his day dream, as they drew closer to the large building where they would be staying for the duration of the assignment. "Some of the works are still ongoing but the sleeping quarters between levels sixty-three and seventy are fully ready for all of you, even Thor when he arrives."

"He isn't here already?" Harry asked, deliberately ignoring Bruce as he carefully removed Harry's hand from where it was still resting on his thigh, as the car bumped along the Manhattan street causing him to jolt a little closer to Steve than was entirely necessary. All it would take was for Happy to take one sharp corner and Harry was going to end up on Steve's lap.

"Not yet," Happy said confidently. He was sure that Thor would make an appearance eventually, however the God of Thunder always did do things in his own time. Plus it wasn't like they could simply call him on the phone and ask him to come down from Asgard to join them. Though he was presumably watching over them as he tended to show up when they needed him or when he needed to warn them of otherworldly threats.

"I thought we were on a mission... as the Avengers," Harry asked suspiciously, looking to Steve with narrowed eyes, however Steve kept his face neutral, not giving anything away. If Harry had taken the opportunity to look over at Bruce then he might have learnt something, however Harry only had eyes for Steve in that moment, so alas he did not.

"Thor tends to turn up in his own time," Steve said as Happy took a sharp turn and he ended up bracing Harry so that the young man didn't actually end up on his lap. This meant that Steve ended up holding him in a way that wasn't strictly all professional and he quickly had to withdraw, a slight blush tinging his cheeks, "he had something to take care of first," he added quickly, looking anywhere other than at Harry.

Steve had had the vain hope that Thor would have been with them by the time that Harry arrived at JFK, but there was nothing to be done about that now. It wasn't as though they couldn't manage the simple transfer of Harry from the airport to Avengers Tower without him. It would have helped, however, with Harry's suspicions. Their charge it seemed was rather perceptive, Steve wasn't sure how long they would be able to keep up Fury's ruse of Harry assisting them on a mission.

So far they hadn't been briefed on what they would be doing but Fury always had a plan so Steve wasn't overly concerned. He only wished that Director Fury would share with them what they were supposed to be doing, not least so that he might have some idea of what to tell Harry.

"Mission related?" Harry queried, fixing Steve with a calculating look, he supposed it made sense that the Avengers wouldn't put the work they were doing on hold just to come and collect him from the airport. In fact, the more Harry thought about it, the fact that so many of them had come to be his welcoming party when he clearly wasn't entirely welcome was very suspicious. It wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself, he had proved that he could several times over, at least he had in the wizarding world.

"Yes," Steve replied, though perhaps a little too quickly, keenly latching on to the ready made reason that Harry had provided. He was feeling a little flustered if he were being honest with himself and that wasn't helping him to come up with suitable white lies to keep the young man next to him from getting suspicious. Steve was starting to realise that they were going to have to actually find something for them all to do that wasn't too dangerous because otherwise Harry was going to figure out what was going on very quickly.

"He will join us when he can," Bruce supplied helpfully, Steve nodding in fervent agreement to this, focusing his stare out of the window, needing to not think about the close quarters they were in or how warm Harry's body felt against his. He hadn't felt anything remotely romantic towards another person since Peggy. Back when she had been his beau and he had carried a picture of her in a pocket watch, something he still had, it hadn't been seen as right or correct for two men to be romantically involved.

It was because of the prejudice of society that Steve had kept his feelings towards his best friend, Bucky, well and truly buried, hidden behind a cloak of friendship and brotherly companionship. He had kept how he felt quiet, knowing that he would have been ostracised and judged if he had given away even the slightest hint. However they were now living in a brave new world, one with endless possibilities.

Harry nodded his understanding, though there were so many things churning over in his mind. He was still in the dark about why he had been brought here and the more he thought about it the weirder it seemed. The Avenger's themselves all seemed like a very strong and capable group and it didn't seem likely that they would need his help with anything. Harry was starting to feel as if he wasn't exactly an equal member of the team. There were a number of little nagging doubts working their way into his mind for him not to be suspicious. This was the first assignment that Kingsley had sent him on that had been this vague.

Though, given that Harry was actually rather looking forward to having a mission to focus on and having adrenaline pumping through his veins once more, he wasn't about to start complaining. Being here also went hand in hand with having some amazing eye-candy to ogle in the process, so he didn't want to see everything that was wrong with what was going on around him.

"Why are Barton and Romanoff so against having me here?" Harry asked rather out of the blue as the car they'd been travelling in came to a stop. Just outside Harry could see security lining the path into the main entrance of the building. There were a few photographers there but mainly women in sexy versions of the Ironman suit, exposing cleavage and flashing their knickers, though the latter wasn't intentional, just a side effect of the embarrassingly short skirts. Harry was just grateful that he didn't have fan's like these back home, he wasn't sure how Tony coped with it.

As this thought crossed Harry's mind, the man himself dropped from the sky, landing in a crouch to a thunderous applause and ear splitting screams from the fan girls. Steve, Harry and Bruce remained sat in the car in silence, all of them ignoring Harry's question as Happy shut off the engine and got out to open the door for them.

"We should go inside," Bruce said, fixing Steve with a not so subtle stare, he didn't think that answering Harry's question was going to be in their best interests right now; their young charge was already suspicious enough without adding more fuel to the fire.

"Or you could answer my question," Harry said stubbornly as Happy opened the car door to let them out, the screaming of the fans becoming almost deafening as Tony pranced around in his Ironman suit and his arrogance, posing for pictures and waving at the gathered crowd.

"Not now," Steve said as he unfolded himself from the vehicle, glad to be out of the confines of the back seat but being slightly dazzled by the sudden mass of flashing lights as more cameras went off, capturing his arrival at Avengers Tower. Tony wasn't the only one to have a fan base, most of the Avenger's team did, however this had become a popular place for the Ironman groupies to spend their time, trying to get Tony's attention.

"Fine," Harry replied in a huff as he slid across the seat and began to clamber out. Just behind them the other car had come to a stop and Harry could see Clint and Natasha coming to join them, both looking on edge at the mass number of people that had gathered, effectively surrounding them. In the next instant, as the crowd overwhelmed the security that was present, everyone acted on their gut instinct. The Avengers all gravitated towards Harry, ensuring that there was one on each side of him, ushering him into the building as the security men attempted to regain control.

"Now I know that I wasn't imagining that, you were all protecting me!" Harry snapped at them as they came to a stop in the lobby area of Avengers Tower. "I'm supposed to be here to help you, not be protected, I can take care of myself!"

"We're a team," Clint said firmly, "We look after each other." As he said this the lift doors opened, revealing a stunning young woman in what looked to be a very expensive white suit, her red hair that matched that of any of the Weasley's, tied back in a pony tail. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she headed towards them, not looking in the least bit surprised to find them bickering.

"There will be a lot of interest in you, Harry," Steve pressed on, elaborating a little more on what Clint had said, "They're all going to want to know who you are, we were trying to protect you but not because you aren't one of us or we think you need it." He didn't see any way around that because it was pretty obvious that that was what they had been doing, Harry wasn't stupid and he wasn't going to believe their lies easily.

"Afternoon," the red haired woman said with a bright smile, "I'm Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Enterprises," she introduced, offering her hand to Harry, who took it.

"Harry Potter," Harry said as he shook her hand. He could offer her no title as anything he had been given title-wise related to his life in the wizarding world. It felt strange to Harry that with all the many titles he had acquired in his lifetime that he could give none of them now as they all related to his life in the wizarding world. It was an odd feeling but strangely freeing too.

"CEO of Stark enterprises and my girlfriend," Tony said, sauntering over and flinging an arm around her that she shrugged off, clearly unhappy with him. Pepper didn't even spare a glance in Tony's direction as she motioned to Harry to follow her.

"If you'll come with me I'll show you around and get your security clearance organised," she said, giving a small smile to each of the other Avengers.

"No one leaves the building alone," Natasha said, glaring at Harry before glancing over around everyone else to make sure they got the point. "No one," she said again, wanting to make this very clear before they parted ways. As she said this Tony's suit began to fold back into it's briefcase once more and Happy, who had only just made it inside after dealing with the mob outside, came forward to take the case from Tony.

"I believe Director Fury had dinner delivered along with the request to meet him in the briefing room on level thirteen tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, you'll find the food in the main living area," Pepper said before heading for the elevator, heels clicking importantly as she walked. Harry didn't hesitate in following her, he could tell that Pepper Potts was not a woman to be messed with.

-x

"He's suspicious already," Steve said as he lead Tony, Bruce, Clint and Natasha into the main living area. Harry was still with Pepper sorting out his security clearance so they had at least a few more minutes before they would make it to them. Upon seeing that Fury had been good to his word and there was a vast array of Shawarma laid out for them to eat, Tony pushed his way passed Clint, who grunted in annoyance but otherwise said nothing. Steve and Natasha watched on with exasperation as Tony grabbed a meat filled wrapped, taking a large bite out of it as he flopped into one of the chairs around the dinning table. None of the others were feeling particularly hungry though, they could all remember far too vividly the last time they had gathered as a group and eaten Shawarma.

"He's rather perceptive, I think that he is smarter than any of us have given him credit for," Bruce said, settling himself down at the table and looking a little concerned as he leaned back in his chair. They didn't have long before Harry would rejoin them, Pepper wouldn't show him every level of Avenger's Tower, only those that he needed to access tonight.

"He's still a pampered prince," Clint said firmly, not willing to chance his first assessment of the young man until he had seen proof to contradict his thoughts. So far Harry had shown no talent of note that would make him worthy as a member of the team and therefore Clint had decided that he neither liked Harry nor trusted him. Clint gave the food a slightly disdainful look before he walked off towards the stairs, wanting to sit on the balcony of the sitting room that over looked the dinning area.

He had always preferred observing people from far and high, liking the solitude and the chance to get to know them and their weaknesses. Judging by the way that none of the others objected to him leaving, Clint assumed that he wasn't needed. He was glad because he wasn't in the mood to sit around and talk about Harry when he had already made up his mind about him.

"I like him," Tony said with a grin once Clint had left them too it, grabbing a second Shawarma wrap as he finished his first. He had seen Steve watching Clint go, but presumably the Captain didn't think that they needed all of them present at the moment because he had made no move to stop him from leaving. Tony didn't care either way, this way just meant more food for him.

"You would," Natasha said with a roll of her eyes. She was much in agreement with Clint when it came to Harry, however, regardless of how she felt about the charge, it was still a mission and she would take it seriously. After all she was a good Agent. Whatever the reasons Potter needed their protection and whatever the reason he needed to believe that he was one of them, she would play along and follow orders because that was what she had been trained to do.

"The fact remains," Bruce said, steering them back on track before the conversation could devolve into another adolescent bickering match, "if we are to convince Harry that he is on a mission and is one of us then we need to come up with a strategy."

"Natasha, you need to be nicer," Steve said, looking at the woman in question rather pointedly, "Clint too," he added, glancing in the general direction of the balcony above them where Hawkeye was sat watching over them all. Steve didn't miss the way the suggestion caused Natasha to stiffen, not liking the idea at all and knew that Clint wouldn't like it either. Even when the two of them had been asked to join the Avengers they had been wary. Neither of them played well with others, they only trusted each other because of their shared history.

"He did ask why you and Clint were so against him being here," Bruce said when it looked like Natasha was going to put up a fight about the whole being nice issue. At his comment, whatever protest Natasha had been about to lodge was swallowed back down as she snapped her mouth shut, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the elevator door that Harry was going to arrive through any moment.

"Have some Shawarma and relax, he'll be here for a while yet and there isn't anything we can do, so just chill," Tony said as he took his third meat filled wrap, grinning at his team mates. Bruce finally caved in and took some food, Steve looked a little more apprehensive but eventually did the same, knowing that he did have to eat eventually, though he would have preferred to avoid Shawarma.

-x  
>"Your security clearance allows you access to every level of Avenger's Tower, though there are a few levels that you probably won't use. I've compiled a list of the floors that you'll find most useful or enjoyable during your stay here," Pepper said, handing him a piece of paper, which Harry took and began to read over.<p>

"He has an ice rink!" Harry said in bemusement. "And... seriously? A Go Kart circuit?"

"Yes," Pepper said, though sounding somewhat unhappy, "I said that he couldn't and he accepted that as a challenge," she explained, sounding utterly exasperated.

"This is amazing and all but I don't expect I'm going to be having a lot of free time, I mean I am supposed to be here on assignment," Harry said, watching Pepper closely. In the confines of the lift it was easy to observe her body language and judge her reaction.

"From what I understand the assignment is still in re-con stages, of course Tony hasn't divulged all of the information to me, however I'm sure you might find some down time to enjoy some of the Tower's more ridiculous levels," Pepper informed him with a smile. Harry had to admit that his questioning hadn't ruffled her at all, he was fairly impressed with how easily she kept her cool. Though, come to think of it, she had a lot of practice when dealing with Tony.

"I'm going to need clothes," Harry said after a few moments of silence, "I had a few issues when I left London and I had to leave my bags behind, Natasha expressly forbid leaving the Tower alone, so how would I go about acquiring clothing?"

"Director Fury will brief you in the morning, you should broach the subject with him. Your suite is level sixty-five and the main communal area, which we're heading to now, is located on level seventy-five. Anything else and I'm sure your team members will be happy to assist you." As Pepper said this the elevator came to a steady stop, sounding a small bell before the doors slid open. "Have a good evening Harry," she said with a smile as he stepped out into the large open plan kitchen-dinning room.

Pepper didn't join him, remaining in the lift and pressing the button for level fourteen. Harry headed directly over to the large dinning table where Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Steve were all sat, some eating with gusto, others with slightly less enthusiasm. "May I join you?" Harry asked, feeling a little silly for asking.

"Of course," Steve said, motioning to the chair between him and Tony before anyone else could say anything. Despite asking Natasha to be nice, Steve was concerned what her response might have been if he had waited to answer Harry's question.

"So this is Shawarma, huh," Harry said as he took one of the wraps and studied it closely. He had never been a big eater, not since living at the Dursley's where they had denied him food on a regular basis. Now, as a grown adult, he stuck to what he knew, rarely trying new things and only really eating when he needed to. He did rather enjoy baking when he had the time, his Aunt had drilled into him various recipes and despite the pressures and tirades of abuse while he learnt, Harry found he still rather enjoyed cooking, so whenever he did eat it was always home made.

Dinner passed with plenty of strained conversation and awkward silence. Natasha didn't say anything to anyone, clearly taking the stance that if she couldn't say anything nice, not to say anything at all. It was Steve and Bruce who did most of the chatting, Tony did most of the eating and Harry simply joined in when he could. He had eaten one meat wrap and then not touched anything else.

"What war did you fight in?" Natasha suddenly blurted out in one of the awkward lapses in conversation. Tony was finally done eating, sitting back in his chair stretching and rubbing his stomach happily. Though when she had asked this, even he had sat up to look at his fellow Avenger in disbelief before turning to Harry, wondering what his answer was going to be.

Silence had fallen now as they all looked to Harry expectantly. Harry however could look no where other than at his hands. He knew that he couldn't tell them everything, he couldn't even tell them half of it, he'd be breaking the statute of secrecy if he did. Besides that, he still found it rather difficult to talk about. Despite talking to a professional and then passing his mental evaluations to become an Auror, Harry still didn't feel comfortable discussing it with anyone, not even his friends back home knew the full extent of it.

"None that you know," Harry said softly, not wanting to think about it. Every time he remembered what had happened he remembered those that had died, not for him but because of him. Despite his many years working as an Auror since that battle he had never killed another man and Harry hoped to keep it that way. "Just like Thor is from another world, so am I," he said, thinking that this was the best way to explain it without breaking the statute of secrecy.

"Are you an alien?" Tony asked, slightly wary of the young man for a moment, looking at him rather suspiciously. Since the battle of New York he had been struggling with what he had seen through the gateway that had opened up right above what was now Avenger's tower. Sleep had evaded him and in all truth he wasn't sure that he would be able to cope with another alien, even if it did come in the form of a small, cute British man.

"No," Harry said at once, looking up and meeting each of their eyes, wanting them to believe that he wasn't lying to them. "I swear, I'm not alien... it's just... complicated. The war I fought in was in my world, a lot of people that I cared about died," he explained, a familiar twang of pain in his heart as he thought about Remus, Sirius, Tonks... so many had died and yet those that they had left behind suffered as well. It was part of the reason he struggled to see Teddy, the guilt of knowing that his parents were gone because of him was enough to keep Harry away.

"You killed the man responsible for the war," Bruce said, remembering what it had said in Harry's file. He could see that the young man was struggling with his past but honestly didn't know how to help him. He didn't simply want to feel pity for him, he knew how infuriating and saddening it was to see all of those around you show nothing but pity.

"Yes but not before he killed my parents, my Godfather, my friends... I couldn't save them," Harry said, his body tensing up, refusing to show weakness in front of these people who he barely knew. "Merlin, I really need a drink," Harry said before anyone else could question him further.

Ignoring the peculiar curse word, Tony got up and fetched a tumbler of whiskey, sliding it down the table to where Harry sat. The young man accepted it and downed it in one go, lavishing the wonderful burning sensation as it trickled down his throat, the familiar warmth growing in the pit of his belly. It would never be as good, or indeed as potent as fire whiskey but it would do.

"We all understand the cost of war," Steve said, his tone full of regret. He too had lost soldiers in battle and it wasn't something that you ever forgot. The moment his best friend had slipped from his arms and fallen from that train car, was one that would remain with him for the rest of his life. If you could so easily forget then it was not a good sign. Steve made a habit of remembering everyday.

Getting up, unable to stand the way everyone was looking at him, Harry made his way to the kitchen where he poured himself a second drink, swallowing it down and then pouring out a third. No one said anything about how much he was drinking, instead simply watching as Harry moved over to the sliding glass doors that lead out onto a balcony area which had a large landing platform, clearly for Ironman to take off and land on.

The views were absolutely magnificent from the balcony, the fresh air above the smog and fumes from the streets below was exhilarating. Harry could feel the comforting weight of his wand in its concealed compartment in his jumper and it helped to calm him. He focused on the skyline around him, wanting to focus on anything other than thoughts of the Great Battle of Hogwarts. Harry had mastered the art of burying these emotions deep but this conversation had brought it all to the surface and he needed a moment to compose himself.

"I'm sorry," Steve said, coming up behind Harry, closing the sliding door as he came out to join him. He had wanted to make sure that Harry was okay, he had been feeling a little guilty that they had pushed to get information that Harry simply wasn't ready to share.

"Why?" Harry questioned, not turning to look at the First Avenger. He could feel the man's presence behind him, the warmth of him at his back as Steve too surveyed the sight of the city.

"Natasha should not have asked about your past," Steve said and Harry had to give him credit for the fact that he did sound truly remorseful that the subject had been raised.

"It's fine," Harry said, though even he wasn't convinced that what he was saying was the truth. It bothered him more than he would have liked to think about those that he had lost. Everyone else in his life had moved on and that was something else that bothered Harry, he honestly didn't think that it should have been that easy to just forget and move on and yet they had. He was envious of their relationships, their children, their normality. He craved it, he really did, he just didn't think that he deserved it.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, recognizing that Harry was most definitely not okay, however he wouldn't be able to force the young man to talk. They had known each other for half a day, Steve didn't expect for Harry to trust him at all just yet. There was no reason for Harry to share his fears and insecurities but Steve, at the very least, wanted for Harry to know that he could if he wanted to.

"You've been through it," Harry said sadly as he knocked back his third tumbler of whiskey, "what do you think?" Steve didn't know what to say, he stumbled over several words before Harry turned to look at him and gave him a small smile. "It's fine," he said with a wave of his hand, "You don't have to say anything, these are my issues, I didn't mean to bring them with me."

"It's alright to have those issues, it means that you're human," Steve said softly, "I have lost people too, people that I cared for deeply."

"I read your file," Harry returned, still staring out over the city, "I couldn't imagine going to sleep and then waking up to a changed world, the people that I loved grown old." Though, even as he said this, Harry knew that it wasn't entirely true, he had experienced something similar. When he had turned eleven he had been plunged into a world that he knew nothing about and expected to adapt quickly while so many people that he was supposed to trust lied to him. He could really relate to what Steve had been through.

"The issues that you're... we're dealing with now, they do get better. They don't go away but we learn to live with them," Steve said. It had only been a few years since he had been thrust into the modern world and he felt as if he was adjusting well. He still had a little notebook that he carried around when people made reference to popular culture that he didn't understand, but apart from that he was doing so much better.

"It's been nine years for me," Harry said sadly, leaning down so that his forearms rested on the railings, playing with the tumbler in his hands, studying it as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world, "Those that I called my friends, that suffered through it with me, they're grown up, moved on, married the ones they loved and had children."

"And you?" Steve asked, more curious than anything else. Partly he wanted to know because Harry Potter was such a mystery to him, though there was something about the young man that truly captured Steve's attention. He genuinely wanted to know and not just because of the mission either. He ensured that he kept his tone gentle, remaining close to Harry but never touching him, worried what might happen if he did. Steve wasn't sure that he would be able to control how he was feeling if he closed that small distance between them.

"Can't," Harry said, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing. It wasn't so easy as just telling him everything, some of it he couldn't even form into words. There wasn't any way to explain how lost and lonely he felt, how utterly overwhelmed he was by the choices he had made in his life that he couldn't take back, couldn't change. The thing that astounded harry the most however was that if he could then he would have, he wanted to share that with Steve, he just wasn't sure how.

The two of them were alike in so many ways, not that Steve could see that yet, given that he didn't know the truth of Harry's life. Harry, however, could see it clearly; they had both survived awful wars and suffered terrible losses. They had both been put on the front lines in a war they didn't fully understand, playing roles that they never should have known. The two of them had both essentially died and been reborn during those conflicts, having given their lives to ensure that those they cared about were safe and the world they knew was protected.

It was a fleeting thought of Harry's that Steve might be able to understand and accept him, even as damaged as he was, but there were nagging doubts in his mind; he was certain that things would be very different once Steve knew more about who he was and the extent of what he had had to do. And that wasn't even starting on his fame, and the problems that came with having a celebrity status. Though that was just one more thing that he and Steve had in common, the older man didn't seem to like his media popularity any more than Harry did.

"I can relate," Steve said with a small smile. "I'm out of time here, a whole new world for me but I suppose it is for you too."

"You have no idea," Harry said, turning to look at Steve and smiling right back before turning his attention back to the scenery, standing up right with another sigh. "You know I've never seen the clouds move like that, or so quickly," Harry said as he watched the sky above them almost transform and form shape. He had intended for it to be a change of subject but the more he studied them, the more transfixed by them he became.

"Just wait until you see the thunder," Steve said with a wry smile as he recognized the tell tale signs. He knew that Thor was coming and it was rather sweet that Harry had no clue about what he was about to see or whom he was going to meet.

"How do you know there's going to be thunder? It's not even raining," Harry asked curiously, not taking his eyes of the magnificent cloud formations swirling and moving around in a way that Harry had not thought would be possible without a spell. The closest thing to this that he had seen was when the Dark Mark had been conjured in the sky but this was by far more natural than that had ever been.

"Trust me," Steve said with a small laugh as true to his word the first strike of lightening came down not more than a few meters away from them. Harry's eye's widening as it happened, unable to believe what he was seeing. The lightning seemed to move with a purpose, almost as if it had aim and direction.

"I want to," Harry said, tearing his eyes away from the sky above him so that he could turn to Steve and actually look at him as he said this. Harry could see just how alike the two of them were and he truly wanted to be able to trust him and the rest of the Avenger's, however he knew that it would take time. He wanted Steve to know how similar they were, but he knew that he couldn't, at least not yet.

"You'll want to watch this," Steve said, turning Harry's attention back to the sky where the lightening was become more extravagant and out of this world, it was also getting closer to them. Harry took a step back and found himself backed against a rather firm, warm body as a strike of lightening hit the landing platform right before a huge blond Adonis of a man landed there a second later. His body crouched, posed to leap it seemed, a large hammer in his hand. This man's piercing blue eyes fixing on Steve and Harry as he rose to his, rather impressive, full height.

"Wow," Harry said as he raked his eyes up and down the six foot something man with dark blond hair to his shoulders, grey chest armour and a deep red cape that flowed from his shoulders down to his calves. He was broad shouldered and every inch of him was muscle that Harry found himself wanting desperately to run his tongue over, licking each curve. He had nothing against Bruce but after seeing Thor Odinson in the flesh Harry knew that his fantasies tonight were going to feature being in a male love sandwich with Thor and Steve. He would be damned if the mere thought of this wasn't making him a little hard as Thor strode towards them with clear purpose in his confident stride; flexing his bare arms rather unintentionally.

"Evening," Steve said, addressing the familiar man who had fought by his side not so long ago. Though in truth he didn't appreciate the way that Harry was staring at him. "It's good of you to join us."

"Where is Fury, I must speak with him," Thor said, his deep voice sending waves of pleasure through Harry's body. Harry's eyes came to nipple height on this marvellous specimen of a man, Thor was at least several inches taller than even Steve, who was one of the tallest men Harry had ever met.

"We have a briefing with him in the morning," Steve said rather matter of factly. It was late and they had all had a long day, especially Harry who had only flown in a few hours ago. There would be no chance of calling a meeting and excluding Harry from it and they all needed to rest.

"Are you the one my brother wants?" Thor asked, turning his attention to Harry now. Harry couldn't help but squirm under the penetrating stare, wondering what it would be like to be pinned beneath the impressive man as the large man truly did penetrate him.

"Brother? As in Loki?" Steve questioned, more than a little concerned, "Isn't he under your custody in Asgard?" The thought that maybe Loki was roaming free once more and also that he could possibly be the threat against Harry made Steve feel a little sick. They didn't want what happened the last time to happen again.

"I'm not sure who your brother is but if he looks like you then he can have me," Harry said as he looked Thor up and down, admiring every muscled inch of him. Steve's body tensed as Harry said this, not entirely sure why he felt a little jealous that Harry was speaking about another man in this way. He had no reason to be jealous, Steve had no idea where the emotion had even come from but it was undeniably there.

"I am not sure what appearance has to do with this but I must find Fury," Thor said as he swept past both Harry and Steve, heading inside to find the man he was after, leaving Harry and Steve a little bemused. Steve however was more concerned about what was happening with Loki. Anything to do with him was always going to be bad news.

"Wow he's tall," Harry said in utter amazement as they watched Thor go, "And the size of his hammer..." Steve couldn't help but laugh as he ushered Harry back inside, the pit of jealousy in his stomach bubbling away. If he could have then he would have put his arm around Harry's shoulders but alas, he could not.

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><p>What did you think? Please leave a lovely review and let me know.<p> 


	4. One last Question

The Affliction of War

Finally, chapter four! Please enjoy.

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><p>Chapter Four - One last question<p>

"Even if you do manage to find Fury this evening he isn't going to do anything about Loki tonight," Bruce said trying to reason with the irate Thunder God. Thor had barely said anything about why he had arrived there so suddenly, instead casting suspicious eyes towards Harry, who had remained close to Steve, staying silent and admiring the view.

"Loki is here, on this planet, we cannot allow him to roam free!" Thor raged, his deep voice thundering around the room, cape swooshing out behind him as he paced across the room. They had all seen first hand the damage that Loki could bring, and Thor feared what his brother's return might mean for his midgardian allies.

"Well if you hadn't allowed him to escape," Tony said as he went to pour himself a drink. He needed it after hearing that Loki was back, he might have been full of bravado but a lot of that was false, especially after what he had seen through that portal.

"How did he escape?" Natasha asked quickly before anyone could react to Stark, looking up at Clint who gave her a curt nod in return. He was having a hard time controlling his temper and had chosen to remain in his perch above, but he was still listening closely. Loki had messed with his head in a serious way the last time they had crossed paths and he hadn't had the chance for revenge as of yet. He was rather keen to dish it out.

"He had aid," Thor growled viciously. It was not something that even Loki would have been able to manage without assistance, of that he was certain.

"There is nothing we can do tonight," Steve reiterated, thinking that Bruce was right; there was no doubt that they would have to do something but it didn't have to be tonight. "We might as well rest, you included," Steve added, addressing Thor as he spoke, "we can deal with it in the briefing tomorrow."

Harry couldn't help but wonder on what Thor had said, the question about whether this Loki was looking for him; he had no idea why that would be the case, but it was definitely… curious. He also found himself wondering if this business was related to why he had been brought in, or whether it was something else entirely. For the moment though, he listened, and watched, transfixed on the large muscled man, as Thor furrowed his brow, giving Steve's suggestion some serious consideration.

"He will be stopped!" Thor said with finality, looking Bruce directly in the eye, his tone one of deathly seriousness.

"Of course," Bruce said, still trying to reason with the God. He needed to keep the situation as calm and controlled as possible. He had a handle on his little green problem, at least he did mostly, however there was no telling what might set it off and he didn't want to risk it.

"Avengers assemble," Tony said with a wink at Harry, who couldn't help but smile.

"Stark, who is your unknown guest?" Thor asked, eyeing Harry with suspicion and interest. "You are of Midgard, yes?" he questioned, putting his Hammer down on top of the dining table and heading towards Steve and Harry.

"Erm, Midgard?" Harry questioned, looking up at Steve, not at all sure how to answer that. He might have been happy to admire the handsome man but Thor was still rather intimidating, even if he hadn't have been a God he was still huge, especially compared to Harry.

"This is Harry," Tony introduced, not moving from his seat. "And yes, he says he's from Earth, more or less anyway; so you're still our resident alien, Shakespeare, no need to get jealous."

"Harry's here to help us with a mission," Steve explained. He was feeling rather protective of Harry, though he wasn't sure why this was. Thor was not in the best of moods and Steve knew exactly how painful it was to be on the wrong end of that hammer.

"So you are not being hidden here from Loki?" Thor questioned. His initial assumption had been that this was someone who was being hidden in the tower for their own safety, and that combined with his knowledge that Loki was looking for someone had seemingly led him to a possibly mistaken conclusion.

The information that he had was sketchy at best. He knew that Loki needed someone, a man, because they had access to something that Loki wanted, desperately. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that this young man would be here now and not have anything to do with why his brother had escaped from prison in Asgard only to return to earth.

"Not to the best of my knowledge," Harry said with a shrug. "Hiding isn't really my style anyway." Though he said this, Harry couldn't help but be suspicious. There was just too much going on that wasn't making any sense. He was beginning to think that Kingsley hadn't been entirely truthful with him in regards to this mission.

Steve was frowning slightly at what Harry had said. He had sort of already known that about Harry given the methods that they were having to take to keep him protected. Fury seemed to think that if Harry had any idea that he was there for his own protection that the young man would go off on one; this was the second indication that that was the case, the first having been Harry's reaction to them protecting him at the base of Stark Tower.

"You have yet to prove yourself to us," Natasha said bluntly. She could respect Harry for not wanting to hide from whatever was out there, but her mission was to keep him alive and so she wasn't going to just trust that he was capable of managing that for himself, not when he had been sent here for protection.

"You are the ones who supposedly need my help," Harry said a little smugly, knowing that he would prove himself as soon as he had the chance, "perhaps you need to prove yourselves to me."

"Enough," Steve said with a sigh. He was more than a little concerned given everything that was going on; they might not be able to tell Harry that he was really there for protection, but they all knew it, and combined with what Thor had told them about Loki made him wonder if Thor hadn't been right in the first place. What if Loki really was looking for Harry? "We do need you, Harry; however, Fury hasn't disclosed your capabilities to us so we don't know what you can do," except flirt outrageously, he added in his mind.

"I can't tell you what I am, my world forbids it," Harry said, "But I can fight, I've been trained by the best people in my world to fight and I can and will prove myself if I have to."

Taking that as an invitation and thinking that testing Harry was just what he was in the mood to do, Clint grabbed the small pocket knife from the waistband of his trousers, flicked it open and threw it at Harry, taking careful aim so that he was quite certain that their charge wouldn't actually be hurt, it would simply sail past his shoulder, not even grazing him but he wanted to see what Harry could do. No one saw him even go for his weapon as he was so high above them, Harry's instincts, however, were on top form.

Realising what was happening, Harry turned on his heel in one swift motion and with whispered latin words, his hands in front of him, palms forward, as if to protect himself, the knife stopped millimeters from him, floating, frozen in midair.

"Okay, that's a neat trick," Tony said with wide, impressed eyes. That was certainly something he had never seen before and considering the amount he had seen not so long ago, this was saying something.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Steve raged, looking up at where Clint was perched, looking entirely unphased by what he had just done. He hadn't intended Harry any harm but with all the boasting that he could take care of himself, Clint had been curious about Harry's ability.

"It's fine, Steve, they wanted proof, they got proof," Harry said, muttering another spell and levitating the little knife back to Clint, hovering it just in front of the man as though holding it out to him handle first. He didn't want to use more magic than he really needed to, but it was clear that he needed to show them that he was capable.

"Your skill is impressive," Thor said in a booming voice, coming over and patting Harry on the shoulder heavily, making him wince a little at the strength of the bigger man.

"Thanks," Harry said, glad that he had made an impression; Natasha too seemed reluctantly impressed, though he strongly suspected that he wasn't going to get any kind of confirmation of that beyond her hopefully dropping the attitude a little.

"What on earth were you thinking?" Steve asked again more quietly, as Clint made his way back down to them. "You would have seriously injured him if he hadn't reacted so quickly." He understood that Clint had been testing Harry, but that wasn't their mission, they weren't supposed to be figuring Harry out, they were meant to be protecting him.

Clint shrugged unapologetically. "It would have missed," he told them with certainty. "And if he had been injured so easily then it would have been no loss to the team to have him on bed rest while he recovered."

"I resent that," Harry scowled, "I can help you."

"Not tonight," Steve said with finality, "We all need rest, Harry, I'll show you to your rooms." He really didn't want them all to fight, what Clint had done had been reckless and stupid and he would be having words with him, however, the priority was and always would be, Harry; at least until their mission was complete.

"Sure," Harry said with a shrug. He hadn't had the chance to shower since arriving and he felt a little grimey from the plane. Showering with Steve around seemed like even more fun, if he could convince the handsome man to join him that was. "Tony, would you mind if I grabbed a bottle?" Harry asked, motioning to the whiskey on the side of the kitchen counter.

"There should be some in your quarters," Tony said with a smile, "I'm sure Steve will be able to help you and you can always swipe the bottle from his room, not like he can get drunk anyway."

"He can't get drunk?" Harry asked, looking to Tony as Steve began heading for the elevator, hoping that Harry would simply follow him.

"Nope," Tony said with a laugh, "Though I'll let him explain," he added with a wink, tilting his head to where Steve was waiting for Harry, the lift door having just slid open.

"Night," Harry said with a small wave and then with a parting shot, wanting to make the others know that he was no push over, Harry muttered a small, innocent spell and then couldn't help but laugh as he saw Clint's hair turn a stunning electric blue. "Oh and Clint, don't try that again or I'll do a whole lot worse to you."

Clint looked entirely confused as he watched Harry get into the lift, Steve following him in, looking utterly astounded and also trying not to laugh at what Harry had done. Apparently Harry really wasn't the kind of person you messed with, let alone threw knives at.

"What?" Clint asked, looking to Thor who was grinning broadly and then to Natasha who seemed to be utterly speechless.

"I think it suits you," Tony said, not even trying to contain his amusement as the lift door slid shut, "I think the kid will fit in just fine here."

"It's… I have never seen anything like it," Bruce said as he approached Clint and began to circle him, studying his hair. "He must be able to manipulate things on a molecular level, fascinating."

"What, what is it?" Clint asked, getting a little paranoid as he brought his hand up to his head to check that his hair was actually still there.

"It is a good look," Thor said in his booming voice, unable to stop smiling as Clint turned to look into one of the many reflective surfaces of Stark tower, catching sight of his hair and letting out an almighty roar.

"I'm going to kill him," Clint snarled.

"The whole point is that we keep him alive," Bruce said with a frown. "You did throw a knife at him after all."

"He's proved that he isn't worthless at least," Natasha stated with a shrug, seeing the funny side of the situation.

"If you ask him nicely he might even turn it back for you," Tony said, "Or you could continue being an ass, and we'll get Pepper to help you dye it back."

"With the lecture Pepper is likely to give you for not being nice to our guest, you might be safer to just stick with the blue," Bruce suggested, tugging out one of Clint's hairs and holding it up to the light, as though he might be able to see a substantial difference in it. Clint winced at the unexpected pain, scowling as he moved around the other side of the table to get away from Bruce before the scientist decided he needed more samples.

"I am sure you will really enjoy trying to be Harry's new best friend," Natasha said to Clint, looking far too amused for his liking. "He seems stubborn, I am curious to see how long he holds out."

"He's going to be trouble!" Clint said with a mixture of exasperation and annoyance. He didn't think that he would be getting his normal hair colour back for a very long time.

"I'm not so sure," Tony said with a wicked sparkle in his eyes, "Hundred dollars says Steve can tame him."

"Not a chance," Clint said with a snort, shaking his head, "Sure, I'll take that bet, there is no way those two are hooking up with each other!"

-x

"How did you do that with Clint's hair?" Steve asked curiously as the lift descended to the guest quarter where Harry would be staying. He had just finished telling Harry about how the serum affected him and the reasons behind why he couldn't get drunk any more and now he was more interested in Harry's rather unique abilities.

"Why, thinking of changing from the blond because personally I love it, I could never resist a blond with muscles," Harry returned with a wink, wanting to change the subject. He knew that he was playing in dangerous territory doing magic in front of two scientists but he hadn't expressly been forbidden from using it in front of them, he just couldn't tell them what he was.

"Will you change Clint's hair back… can you?" Steve asked, curious about the extent of Harry's abilities and the extent of what he was capable of.

"I can, whenever I want… whether I will or not, that's another issue altogether. Personally, though," Harry went on, talking mostly to himself by this point, "I think it's a vast improvement. It does take away some of the brooding intensity though."

"You seem very… interested in… well…" Steve said a little awkwardly, not really sure how to word his curiosity about the young man's rather forward behaviour. He had honestly never met anyone else quite like Harry before, so blatant and honest about his admirations.

"Hmm?" Harry hummed, turning to look at the taller man. "Oh, in you and the other guys?" he asked, catching on, and Steve nodded his head. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything," he said, feeling a little bad. He was aware that his behaviour might not have been the most professional, but flirting just seemed to make everything feel easier to cope with and there was a lot to take in.

The only bonus to being who he was, was that his confidence had skyrocketed to something he had never thought possible as an eleven year old, unsure of the world he was stepping into. He was used to getting what he wanted in most elements of his life now and all because of his status in the wizarding world. Being the man who defeated Voldemort had meant that a lot of witches and wizards had fallen at his feet, wanting to be fucked by him. It made one night stands remarkably easy but lasting relationships difficult, if not impossible.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Steve hurried to try and assure him. He knew that many of his own gut reactions were a relic from a time he no longer lived in, and he didn't want to Harry to stop for his sake; particularly not when he found himself rather enjoying the smaller man's flattery, even if it gave him twinges of jealousy when directed elsewhere.

He was struggling with his feelings towards Harry. Steve could see that he was an attractive man but when it had been Bucky he had felt something towards, Steve had easily brushed it off, thinking that it was because they were close friends. He didn't have this excuse when it came to Harry. If his parents could have known of his feelings then and now they would certainly be horrified, it was so unlike anything they had known. Even Steve wasn't sure that he was entirely comfortable with what he was feeling yet.

"Just not used to it," Harry said with understanding, as the lift came to a stop, the doors opening with a ping. "I guess things have changed a lot from what you were used to," he added, following the rather uncomfortable looking Steve from the lift, "and well I just like to give credit where it's due, and you Avengers are a handsome bunch."

Arriving in a new country that he had never been in before, after his first ever plane ride, meeting people that were practically strangers to him… he had reacted in the only way he knew how. Confidence and bravado, putting up a front and building his defences to make sure that they couldn't hurt him. He had been hurt before and he didn't want that to happen again. Harry was beginning to realise that this might have been the wrong approach to have with these people.

"Oh, um, thank you?" Steve said, though it came more out of question. To give himself something to do, other than watching Harry, Steve focused on the quarters they had just entered, because it was certainly a lot easier than looking at their charge but only because it felt a lot like admiring. Plenty of women would have slapped him for looking at them the way way he was currently looking at Harry.

"You're welcome," Harry said absently, but he too was looking around the suite, with an expression of awe. "This is all for me?" he asked with disbelief. "It's huge; I'm going to be rattling around in here. Are you sure you wouldn't like to move in here with me?" Harry asked, turning to Steve with a wink, enjoying the way that the taller man blushed.

"I have my own floor," Steve told him quickly. "We each do. Tony doesn't do things by halves." The thought of being that close to Harry all of the time was making him feel very flustered. Bucky had been his childhood crush but obviously nothing had ever come of that. Women had never really been interested in him until Peggy and all they had had the chance to do was kiss. His life had never really left much room for romance and he was feeling entirely in over his head with Harry.

"I could always move in with you," Harry said, turning now to look at Steve, utterly fascinated with him. Steve just gaped at Harry, not knowing what to say, it wasn't that he was against the idea but coming to terms with what Harry was suggesting was something of a challenge. "It's fine," Harry said quickly, seeing that he had clearly stepped over the mark, "It's only… it doesn't matter."

"What?" Steve questioned, seeing some of Harry's concealed insecurity for the first time. In that moment he saw a flicker in the perfect facade of the mask that the young man had put in place and Steve knew that Harry was human, just like the rest of them. "You can talk to me, Harry, I won't judge you."

"I don't like to be alone," Harry said softly with a resound sigh, he hated admitting weakness but he truly couldn't bare to think of sitting in this huge place all on his own for hours on end, alone with his thoughts. It was a truly horrifying thing to think about; he had made sure that he was never alone for long enough to dwell on his past, certainly not while sober at least.

"Oh," Steve said uncertainly. He had meant it when he had told Harry that he could talk to him, but now that the smaller man had done so, he honestly wasn't quite sure what to say. "Well you can spend most of your time up in the communal areas with the rest of us, I think we would all like that," he suggested. He felt bad not being able to offer more of a solution but he didn't think he would be able to resist temptation if he did stay or else invited Harry to join him.

"Yeah, I know, I didn't mean to put you on the spot," Harry said. "Perhaps you could stick around while I go get washed up, won't take me long."

"Sure, I can do that," Steve said with a nod, thinking that this was the least he could do for the young man. He was already predicting a lot of late nights sitting with Harry just so he didn't have to be alone. Steve truly understood that, there were some moments when he really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts either.

"Can you find the whiskey while I'm gone, or anything remotely alcoholic, I won't be able to sleep otherwise," Harry said as he turned to see if he could locate the shower, missing Steve's frown as he did so.

Half an hour later, Steve had settled himself on the sofa, waiting patiently, the bottle of whiskey that Harry had requested on the table with a drink readily poured out; he was concerned about the other man's drinking habits so figured giving him a glass rather than the bottle would be safer.

Harry walked into the room, looking a little sheepish, wearing only a towel. Steve froze, not knowing what to do or what to say, his eyes watching as water dripped from his wet hair, down on to his chest. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as the little trickle of water reached an erect nipple before carrying on its downward track across defined muscle, towards the soft cotton towel that hung loosely on Harry's hips.

"I don't have any clothes," Harry said, looking directly into Steve's blue eyes. "I lost my bags…" he tried to explain, feeling rather silly as he had already mentioned that he had had some trouble when he had left London.

"Oh, um, isn't there anything in the bedroom at all?" Steve asked, feeling his cheeks go bright red, practically radiating heat from them.

"Honestly?" Harry asked and Steve nodded, "I wasn't sure where that was. Perhaps that drink before I try to figure it out," he suggested. He could feel the effect of the few drinks he had had earlier wearing off, and he wasn't ready for that to happen just yet.

"Oh, um, sure, here," Steve said, picking up the tumbler of whiskey and handing it over to Harry. However, as he went to accept it, the one hand that had been holding on to his towel didn't quite manage to keep hold of both sides and, before he could stop it, the towel had fallen and Harry was standing quite naked in front of Captain America, who suddenly didn't know where to look.

The situation was not helped by the fact that Harry was semi-erect, something Steve hadn't taken the moment to notice before now. He determinedly kept his eyes focused on Harry's, admiring the startling shade of emerald and resisting the urge to be the gentleman and pick up the towel.

"We should, ummm, find you some, ah, clothes," Steve said, his words becoming jumbled up in his mouth as he tried to speak. He hated how confused and bewildered he sounded, he didn't want to sound stupid in front of Harry.

"We could do," Harry said. "Or we could not."

"You want to not have clothes on?" Steve asked, feeling his heart racing in his chest; an attractive man stood before him completely nude, his own body reacting accordingly. The only man that he had ever had this reaction to was Bucky and those had only ever been fantasies dreamed up in his mind, it had never happened with the person he desired right in front of him.

"I want to not have clothes on with you," Harry said softly, keeping his voice low and enticing. He wanted Steve, right then he would have taken any one of the Avengers to bed but out of all of them, Harry wanted Steve. There was some kind of kinship between them, so many shared experiences that meant it felt so right.

"Harry…" Steve said, his entire body and mind at war with themselves, not knowing what to do. He knew what he wanted, he felt the desire pulsing through him, the serum having affected everything in his body, including his hormones. It was his basic instincts from a time gone by that made him so conflicted.

"You don't want to," Harry said, feeling a little hurt and entirely rejected. He had never been turned down before, his sexual advances always welcome. To be refused like this only made Harry crave Steve more, wanting him on a carnal level.

"I…" Steve began, not even knowing where to begin but knowing that he needed to explain. He wasn't exactly rejected Harry, the fact that he was growing hard simply being this close to a naked man was proof that he wanted this. There was a small part of his mind that was blocking him though, it wasn't something that he could simply jump into without second thought.

"It's fine," Harry said quickly, grabbing his towel from the ground, wrapping it around himself and going to turn away, wanting to make a quick escape as he felt utterly humiliated. Steve however wasn't having any of it, grabbing Harry's upper arm, stopping him from leaving.

"Don't go," Steve managed to say, "we'll find you clothes and we can talk."

"I don't talk, Steve, that's when things get complicated," Harry said with a sigh, not immediately tugging his arm away. Not once had he ever taken the time to get to know or share any form of conversation with his bedfellows. He saw no need and didn't want to be bored with their psycho babble about how much they liked and admired him. It was stuff that he had heard before and wasn't interested in hearing again.

"Well I've never slept with anyone, so tonight could be a first for both of us," Steve said, speaking softly and finally letting go of Harry's arm, however he made sure that he remained close to Harry just in case he tried to get away again.

"What… never?" Harry asked in utter astonishment. He knew that Steve was technically in his nineties but looked no older than thirty. It was difficult for Harry to comprehend the fact that Steve had never been with another person in that way, it was utterly mind boggling.

"Never really had the time, or even the inclination," Steve said with a small shrug, wondering to himself whether or not he could or rather should, close the gap between the two of them and kiss the young man. He wanted to, he really did… he just wasn't sure that he should because he couldn't trust himself not to get too carried away if he did.

"Then maybe we really shouldn't do this," Harry said, not having realised how inexperienced Steve was. It was one thing to sleep with a man, it was another to take his virginity. Harry had done so once before and had problems with the young man, who hadn't wanted to leave him alone. The Ministry had had to get involved on that occasion because the man's behaviour had become somewhat violent.

"And if I wanted to?" Steve said, looking decidedly nervous. Half of him just wanted to leave, to walk away because having these kind of relations with a man, let alone one he had just met, felt so disgraceful; but he was also definitely attracted to this young man and was tired of living by outdated rules that stopped him from taking what he wanted. It also wasn't like Harry was going anywhere, they had a mission, or at least Harry believed that they did.

"Well I think I made it embarrassingly clear how keen I was," Harry said, suddenly unable to look anywhere other than at Steve., He felt utterly foolish for the way that he had acted, practically throwing himself at Steve, completely naked and completely shameless.

"Should we, I don't know, maybe try and locate that bedroom after all," Steve suggested feeling as if he were somehow betraying the man he used to be all those years ago by suggesting this but knowing that he wanted it more than anything else in the moment.

"Sure, your first time should be on an actual bed after all," Harry said, astounded that Steve wanted this. He couldn't believe that after only knowing each other for a few hours that Steve actually trusted him to be his first.

"First we talk," Steve reminded him as he took Harry by the hand and leading them through the maze of rooms looking for the bedroom. He was both nervous and excited, but he still wanted to get to know the other man a bit before they did anything.

"Trust me, I can think of a few better uses for my tongue than talking," Harry said with a salacious grin, letting the taller man continue to lead the way. He knew he should probably put a stop to this, given that the super soldier had never done this before, but he also knew he wouldn't.

"Harry… I want to know you," Steve said stubbornly, as he pushed open one of the doors and found a large bedroom behind it.

"You will," Harry promised teasingly, "intimately." He really didn't understand why Steve was so determined that they have some kind of heart-to-heart beforehand, but he supposed it was likely due to his upbringing, having come from a different time. He felt uncomfortable with the emotional intimacy that Steve was suggesting, not wanting to make himself so vulnerable.

"You know what I mean," Steve said, blushing furiously as he looked around the room; Harry could see the way the other man's eyes kept sneaking peeks in his direction though and he realised that Steve was probably every bit as nervous about the physical aspects as he was the emotional. Harry was still clutching the towel around his waist with the hand that Steve wasn't holding and it was fairly clear that they were both aware of how naked Harry could get in under a second.

"I know, so how about this," Harry said, tugging on Steve's hand a little to get him to look his way. He wanted a way for them to balance their own anxieties against the other's. "For every question I answer, you have to remove an item of clothing, I think that that will be a just reward,"

"Okay, I can play along with that," Steve said as he allowed Harry to pull him closer so that they were standing chest to chest, though Harry was considerably shorter than Steve, "But first, I want to try something."

Harry nodded his head, though a little hesitantly, not knowing what to expect. With his heart pounding loudly in his chest, Steve leaned his head down and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of Harry melting into him as their tongues met.

"First question…" Harry said, feeling a little breathless as their kiss ended, though they remained close to one another, one of Harry's hands still between them clinging to his towel while Steve's arms were resting on the other man's hips.

"Your parents," Steve said, meaning it as a question but it not entirely sounding like one.

"Killed when I was just a baby, by the man who tried to kill me several times, who gave me the scar on my forehead," Harry said, his free hand running up Steve's chest, "take your t-shirt off please." Nodding, Steve did as Harry had instructed, taking a step back, crossing his arms over his body and lifting the material up and over his head by the hem.

"Mine are dead too," Steve said as he discarded his shirt to the floor, allowing Harry a minute to admire him, which, of course, Harry took full advantage of. "Do you have any other family? Any siblings?"

"No, not really" Harry said sadly; he refused to even acknowledge the Dursley's as family anymore, not after everything they had put him through. He didn't even know where they were now anyway. "My family are my friends, though a lot of them died during the war, I mainly avoid them, it's easier that way," he added, trying to keep the pain from his voice. "Please remove your shoes."

Steve kicked off each shoe in turn, his eyes never once leaving Harry's, happy that they were finally getting somewhere with one another. "I don't either, I was an only child and any family I might have had died a long time ago. We have a lot in common it seems," Steve said with a small smile as he leaned down and claimed a chaste kiss from Harry as he contemplated his next question.

"Do you play any sports?" Steve asked, thinking that a change of topic was in order considering how upset Harry seemed to be getting with the current questions he was asking.

"Sports?" Harry asked looking up at him with confusion. "That's a big change in topic." He was actually rather glad that they could now discuss something more light hearted, he disliked talking about family and friends, it always lead to more difficult questions that he never wanted to answer.

"You were getting upset, that wasn't the point of this," Steve explained, looking at Harry with concern. He truly had not wanted to upset the other man with his questions, it was not the mood that they were going for after all.

"I can handle a few questions, ask what you really want to know," Harry told him firmly. There was no point to this if Steve didn't find out what he wanted to know, Harry wanted to make sure that they were both comfortable with what was going to happen, if this was what Steve needed, he could give that to him. Besides that, the only sport Harry played was one Steve would never have heard of and Harry found himself not wanting to tell any more lies.

"Why did you agree to come here?" Steve asked, knowing that this was dangerous territory but wanting to know the answer. He was feeling scared, more scared than he had been in a long time, even compared to the battle of New York. At least then he had been in his comfort zone and known what he had been doing, this was all new territory for him.

"I was asked to come here by my Boss. I was the best that he had available to him," Harry explained, picking his words with care, knowing that the wrong one could end up in disaster.

"Your boss?" Steve questioned curiously. He knew that Fury had brought Harry in, but he had no idea where he had come from really, how Fury had found him in the first place.

"Yes, just like your world has S.H.I.E.L.D, my world has something similar; my boss is to me who Director Fury is to you," Harry said. "Now please remove your socks and trousers."

"But we agreed one item of clothing per question," Steve said, trying to be coy, though he knew he was doing a bad job of it. He was rather enjoying the closeness of his body to Harry's and he didn't want to alter that just yet, he was still adjusting to this.

"And you asked two questions," Harry said, simply stating fact, though giving Steve a small smile as if he knew what he was doing.

"Ah, but we could argue that the socks count as two," Steve returned, trailing one hand up and then back down Harry's toned chest. The skin was soft and smooth, though there were a few scars here and there, scars that Steve found he wanted to know the story behind one day. However that was not a question for tonight.

"If you wanted to delay this then you could," Harry said as he felt Steve's fingers run around the top of the towel that he was still holding up. He didn't want Steve to feel that they had to do anything, he wanted the other man to want this as much as he did.

"Perhaps I simply wanted more questions," Steve said with a smile, placing another chaste kiss to Harry's lips. Harry was rather enjoying the soft, sweet kisses that Steve was giving him. He hadn't had such affectionate attention in months, if not years. He rarely took things this slowly with the witches and wizards he took home with him, but it was certainly a nice change of pace.

"How about I ask you a question and if you answer I'm going to drop the towel," Harry said and Steve nodded, albeit a little nervously. "Can I trust you not to lie to me?"

"Of course you can trust me," Steve said, feeling a horrible pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach, knowing that he was already lying to Harry. He couldn't exactly tell Harry this though, the whole point was that Harry didn't know that he was being protected, this was a lie that Steve knew he had to tell.

Good to his word, Harry let go of the towel, letting it fall to the floor. Steve, his breath coming in short, sharp gasps due to his nerves, toed off his socks before going for the button on his trousers, popping it open and revealing the top of white boxers. Harry watched as Steve pushed his trousers down, over his thighs and then to the floor before stepping out of them.

"One last question," Harry said, reaching forward and slipping a single finger on each hand under the elastic of the waistband and allowing them to tease around the edges without delving deeper. Both of them were fully erect, all it would take was for one of them to step forward and their erections would be rubbing together.

Steve thought long and hard before he finally decided upon a question that he considered worth enough to be his final question before they embarked on this unknown journey together, something that was making Steve feel rather apprehensive.

"What would make you truly happy?" Steve asked, reaching up to stroke at a strand of raven hair that had fallen forward of his ear. It was a question that he wanted to know the answer too because he felt as if it was the one thing that he truly wanted to know about the young man.

"Getting you completely naked," Harry said with a smile, allowing his hands to delve a little deeper past the elastic of Steve's boxers, taking that step forward so that their erections were touching.

"Harry," Steve said, moving his hands now so that he was holding on to Harry's, stopping him from going too far before he had answered the question.

"Okay," Harry said with a sigh, "I guess that the thing that would make me happy would be a family of my own, children," he said sadly. Steve seemed genuinely shocked by the truthfulness of this answer, though he was grateful for it. "Now off with those pants Captain," Harry said, smiling now, hands roaming across Steve's body.

Before removing his final article of clothing, Steve took Harry by the waist, picking him up and half placing, half throwing him on to the bed. He took in the sight of the smaller man who lay back upon the bed, his legs spread wide, erection leaking.

His heart was in his throat as he lowered his boxers, rendering himself completely naked, Harry's eyes raking over his body hungrily, truly loving what he was seeing. Steve's view wasn't half bad either and it was perhaps only a combination of this and his hormones that had intensified with the serum, that he was able to step forward and move on to the bed so that he was kneeling between Harry's legs.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Harry asked as Steve came forward so that he was supporting himself over Harry, who was looking up at him with wide, lustful eyes. He might have been painfully hard but he didn't want to force Steve into rushing into his first time when he wasn't ready.

"I'm sure," Steve said, his uncertainty rapidly disappearing as he lowered his body closer to Harry, nestling himself between Harry's thighs more comfortably. He was still somewhat anxious about taking this step, but distracted himself by pressing his lips to the smaller man's, deepening the kiss, tongues clashing playfully together. They both moaned, as their erections rubbed together, their bodies moving against one anothers.

"Accio lube," Harry whispered as Steve nuzzled at his neck, amazed at how instinctual Steve seemed to be, especially considering he had never done this before. Steve only stopped what he was doing as a small bottle of lotion came whizzing into the room of it's own accord.

Stopping and looking at Harry with a mix of awe and bewilderment, he said "Okay, I am starting to understand why Fury thought that you might be useful."

"For my ability to summon sexual lubricant?" Harry asked, highly amused by this suggestion, "Yes, I think that is exactly what the Avenger's were missing. It's no wonder you're all so tense, it's all that sexual tension!"

"Not after tonight," Steve replied, resuming his ravishing of Harry's neck, working his way down the smaller man's body.

"You have to prepare me," Harry said, his voice a throaty whisper as a hand closed around his cock, "Otherwise it'll hurt," he added. Harry didn't mind being top or bottom, it depended how much he trusted the person he was with. He much preferred bottoming, it felt too amazing not to do it, though he had to trust the person he allowed inside of him. So far only his work colleagues had had level of trust and only because Harry figured, if he could trust them with his life then he could trust them with this.

Steve nodded his understanding, hating how nervous he felt about it. "If I hurt you…" he began to say but Harry just shook his head.

"You won't," he said as he handed the lotion over to Steve, "trust me." Those words went through Steve in a way no other words had done before. He knew that they shouldn't be doing this and not because of who he used to be either, but because he wasn't being entirely truthful with Harry.

He had no clue what he was doing but he had to trust that Harry would tell him if something wasn't right. Of course Steve wasn't completely clueless, he had been curious about these things before the serum, he had just never acted upon his urges, so he knew vaguely what he had to do, he had simply never put it into practice before.

Flicking open the cap of the lotion, Steve put a small amount on his index and middle fingers, coating them. If he had had the choice then Steve would have chosen fighting Alien's or Hydra any day of the week than doing this, he felt so lost and even a little scared, not wanting to hurt Harry in anyway.

With one hand enclosing around Harry's throbbing erection, Steve slowly and cautiously began to circle the tight ring of muscle with his lubed fingers, letting Harry know what was about to happen. The smaller man was already writhing and gasping from the attention being lavished on his cock, so Steve took the opportunity to slip a single digit inside.

The reaction Steve got made his confidence sore, Harry couldn't stop himself from begging for more. The familiar burn from the intrusion was one that he lived for, he truly loved it because he knew that more was coming. Topping just didn't have the same satisfaction for him. After a few more experimental thrusts with his index finger, Steve added a second and was rewarded by a wanton moan from Harry who was bearing down upon the fingers inside of him.

By this point Steve was going on gut instinct, not knowing what he was doing but liking the way that Harry was reacting to him. If he had known that it was going to be this good he would have ignored the prejudice of society and just gone for it. Watching Harry squirm and plead for more was making his erection painfully hard, drops of precum leaking from the tip. Steve wasn't too concerned though, he might have been a virgin but that didn't mean he hadn't pleasured himself. He had a lot more staying power since the serum.

"So good, more," Harry begged, glad that the other's man's uncertainty seemed to have disappeared now that they had actually started something. It had been too long since he had experienced this and he found himself torn between wanting to just get lost in the sensations and wanting to watch the lustful expressions on Steve's handsome and flushed face.

"It doesn't hurt?" Steve asked, wanting to be certain, given what Harry had said before; he was pretty sure from the reactions the other man was giving him but he didn't want there to be any doubt.

"No, doesn't hurt, good, really good," Harry gasped, bearing down upon the fingers buried inside him, wordlessly asking for more. "Please, I can take more, I want more."

Nervously, Steve inserted a third finger, worried that it would be too much but the groan of appreciation made Steve realise that Harry was very much enjoying himself. Having been stroking the other man's cock at a slow and steady pace he began to speed up, causing Harry to buck his hips upwards as the wonderful sensations washed over him.

He moved his fingers in and out of the smaller man, wanting to make sure that he wouldn't cause him any pain with what was to come. He had never thought that the sight of his fingers buried inside another man would be such a turn on, but that, combined with Harry's enthusiasm, had him achingly hard and needy. "More?" he questioned, not sure how many fingers he should use, how far he needed to stretch Harry open.

"No, can't wait any more," Harry told him, trying to shake his head, but his body was too desperate for what he knew Steve could give him and it more just flopped side to side against the pillow. "I want to feel your cock as it stretches me," he said, managing to force his eyes open to take in the sight of Steve's flushed face, though it seemed to be more with arousal than embarrassment.

Steve was a little shocked by the words out of Harry's mouth, though he couldn't deny that it turned him on a little. He removed his fingers from inside of the other man, reaching for the lube, knowing that he would need to coat his erection before they could go any further.

"Allow me," Harry said, his cheeks flushed red with arousal. Steve handed over the lube, watching Harry with a keen eye as the smaller man squeezed some of the lotion into the palm of his hand. Harry reached out to where Steve had positioned himself, the super soldier kneeling before his lover so that he had easy access.

He gasped as the cool liquid and the warmth of Harry's hand encased his throbbing cock. He threw his head back as Harry squeezed him, coating him in the slimy substance. "Enough," Steve grunted, knowing that if Harry continued his assault then this wasn't going to last very long.

"Enough?" Harry asked, worried that they had gone too far and Steve was chickening out or it had simply been too much for him. He honestly thought that he might explode if he didn't feel Steve inside of him soon.

"If you keep going then I'm going to come," Steve explained gently, taking steady breaths as he tried to control himself. Having got this far he knew he wanted more, he wanted to actually go all the way and have sex with Harry.

"I want you to come inside of me," Harry said, looking into Steve's eyes to make sure that he knew that he meant it. This was something Harry wouldn't let happen often at all, whether it was the different type of alcohol going to his head or whether it was his gut instinct he didn't know but Harry wanted this more than anything, he wanted to feel as Steve came inside him.

"Okay," Steve agreed simply, his voice a little breathy. He wanted that too, more than he had thought he would, and he quickly caught Harry's lips in another kiss, as he pressed the smaller man back down onto the bed. Harry's legs were spread wide, and he could feel their erections brushing against each other, his hands moving down Harry's chest, until he had hold of his hips. "Ready?" Steve asked, meeting Harry's eyes.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Harry retorted, as Steve reached between their legs and maneouvered his erection towards Harry's entrance. He could feel the tip of it against his cheeks, the slick pre-cum leaking onto his skin, all proof of how much this man wanted him.

Slowly and steadily, Steve pushed himself inside of the smaller man, watching his face carefully. He wasn't sure he had prepared him enough and he was ready to stop the second Harry showed any inclination of pain. However the look of awe on his face as his pupils went to little pin pricks in a sea of green was enough to spur Steve on.

"Oh, fuck," Harry gasped out, clasping at his partners large shoulders as Steve entered him. The intensity of it was almost too much, it had been a while since Harry had been on the receiving end of sex and Steve was not the smallest of men.

"Do you need me to stop?" Steve asked, his voice strained as he held himself over the smaller man, not wanting to put too much weight on him. He was finally fully sheathed inside of his lover and the heat surrounding his erection combined with how tight Harry felt was almost enough to push him over the edge. He truly had not felt anything as amazing before in his life and he had to take a moment to bring himself under control.

"Fuck, no, don't stop," Harry gasped out, needing more, it wasn't a matter of wanting any more, Harry genuinely didn't think that he could have survived if Steve pulled out of him now. Harry looked up into blue eyes, smiling as sweat trickled down his skin, his breathing erratic and uncontrolled.

Pulling out a little, Steve then pushed himself back in, causing Harry to threw his head back, mouth open in a silent scream of pleasure as the sensitive bundle of nerves inside of him was brushed against. Snaking his arms underneath the smaller man, Steve gathered Harry up into his arms, drawing him closer and pushing himself deeper inside of the other man.

Harry wrapped his legs around Steve's waist as the large, muscled superhero sat them up, rocking himself in and out with gentle motions that had his large cock brushing against Harry's prostate with each thrust. With his arms around the smaller man, Steve drew him into a passionate kiss that was so sweet and tender, Harry thought he felt him feeling something that he couldn't contribute to lust. Steve was so kind and gentle, it wasn't something he had ever experienced during sex before.

"Going to…" Harry gasped as he felt the heat in his stomach coil tighter as he got closer to his climax. Steve was relentless in brushing against the little bundle of nerves inside of him and he knew he wasn't going to last very much longer.

Without any further warning, Harry seemed to explode, his orgasm tearing through him, almost violently so. Pearly white drops of come splattering across both their chests. Steve felt Harry constrict around him and this was just too much for him, his own release hitting him out of nowhere. He became lost in a wave of pleasure as he came inside of the smaller man who was still riding out his own climax.

It took several moments for the two of them to catch their breath and regain themselves. When Steve went to remove himself however, Harry stopped him, shaking his head, not wanting for the sensation to end. "I like it," he whispered softly, running his hands through sweat slicked blond hair, "feeling you," he elaborated when Steve looked a little confused. Without saying a word, Steve tightened his hold around the smaller man and kissed him for all he was worth.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the smut. Don't forget to leave me a lovely review, also, come and find me on facebook and pester me :)<p> 


	5. I just had sex

Affliction of War

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><p>I'm having such great feedback for this story and I love it. Keep the comments and reviews coming in, they're fantastic.<p>

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><p>Chapter Five – I just had sex<p>

_Sometimes, something beautiful happens in this world…_

Harry groaned as he stirred from sleep, music was being playing into his room at an unbearable level and he wasn't entirely happy at being woken up so early. He was a little sore, though pleasantly so and he could feel another body wrapped snugly around his. Harry turned his body so that he was facing his bed companion and tried to bury his head into the bare chest he found there to escape the intrusive song.

_You don't know how to express yourself, so you just gotta sing …. I just had Sex! And it felt so good!_

"What the fuck is that noise?!" Harry demanded grumpily as he felt Steve begin to stir beside him, groaning in annoyance as his hold around Harry tightened. Whatever the racket blaring out into their room was, it wasn't music, in fact Steve wasn't sure he had heard anything so aggravating since he had woken up from his seventy year sleep.

"Tony's idea of a joke," Steve grumbled, equally as unhappy as Harry about the situation. He would have been more than happy to lie in bed and glow in the aftermath of the night before, his partner cuddled into him, Tony, however, had other plans it seemed.

_A woman let me put my penis inside of her!_

"I am NOT a woman!" Harry shouted rather irately to the room. Thanks to Happy's extensive lecturing the day before, Harry knew that the whole sky scraper was wired with speakers, microphones, security cameras, the works, which was why Tony always had access to Jarvis, but right now it wasn't something that Harry appreciated.

_I just had sex! And I'll never go back, to the not having sex ways of the past._

"TONY!" Steve yelled. "Shut it off!"

_Have you ever had sex? I have, it felt great. It felt so good when I did it with my penis!_

"Allow me," Harry said, having had enough of the loud and intrusive song. "Silencio," he shouted and immediately the room fell silent; however, they could still hear the vile song playing in the corridor outside of the bedroom. Clearly the spell wasn't going to have much of an effect outside the room that Harry was in.

"Now that was impressive," Steve said as he leaned over and captured Harry's lips in a searing kiss. He had a feeling that he was going to continue being astounded by this young man's capabilities for a long time yet.

"Even with gross morning breath that was an awesome good morning; even with Tony's version of a wake up call," Harry said grinning. He snuggled in closer to Steve, their naked bodies locking together in a tangle of limbs, their morning erections painfully obvious to one another, neither of them feeling particularly shy about them either.

"Let's go back to my rooms, we can brush our teeth and find you some clothes," Steve suggested as Harry began to kiss and nuzzle at the smaller man's neck, hands wandering to wonderful places.

"But I want us naked, much more fun," Harry said cheekily, wanting the moment in bed with Steve to last. It was strange waking up and having his lover from the previous night still there. More often than not they just weren't. When they were they made a fairly quick exit when Harry made it perfectly clear they were nothing more than a one night stand. Steve was the first in a while that Harry would consider sleeping with again, and again.

"We can't go to the briefing with Fury naked, Harry," Steve said, a slightly amused expression on his face. After last night he wasn't sure why he had made such a big deal about everything, he rather enjoyed Harry's cheek and flirting if he were honest with himself and he knew that he could match it when he grew accustomed to it.

"Sure we can," Harry said with a grin, "maybe we all could. Can you imagine if we all went naked? I'd love to see Thor's other hammer."

"As long as you're only looking," Steve said, a hand reaching up to stroke at the tufts of raven hair. Harry had slept with it wet the night before and as a result it was even messier than it usually would have been. It was something that Steve found rather endearing and extremely cute when combined with Harry's sleepy emerald eyes.

"Jealous, Captain?" Harry teased, rather liking the fact that Steve was seemingly a little possessive of him. The gleam in his eyes when Steve looked at Harry made his stomach tingle and his libido sky rocket. There was no denying that he truly wanted this man in every way that he could have him.

"I've never been good at sharing, Harry," Steve told him honestly. When it came to relationships he was very traditional. Steve would be adamant on the fact that relationships were to be between two people, not three or four. He had always been a loyal man, to his friends, to his country and now to the Avengers. If Harry would let him then he would be just as loyal to Harry too.

"Then perhaps, at some point, I shall have to teach you the potential benefits of sharing," Harry said with a cheeky grin, thinking of how much fun he had had with a few guys sharing him in the past. He could only imagine that that would be so much better if the two men in question were Steve and Thor or even Steve and Tony, ot Bruce and Steve. Either way it had to be Steve, the night before had been too amazing for it not to be.

"You've been shared before?" Steve asked curiously; he was torn between being completely fascinated and being irrationally jealous. Imagining Harry with anyone else made a fire of anger ignite in his belly at the thought. He wasn't sure where these emotions were coming from but he was certain that he couldn't ignore them. No one had ever done extensive tests on the full affects that the serum had had on him, though from what he knew from experience was that it affected everything about him, even his moods.

"Just the once and it was a lot of fun," Harry said with a fond smile. The two men that he had been with had been a great way to relax after one of his more stressful mission's right before he had been promoted. He hadn't expected for the retrieval of an unidentified magical object to go so wrong, but it had and he had a nasty scar to prove it as well as a dead partner too. He had been glad when he had been able to put it in the Ministry under his unique protective enchantments and forget about it.

"Not with me, Harry, I want all of you, not just fun," Steve said and although his tone was serious, he continued stroking the dark, tufty hair rather affectionately. He needed Harry to know that whatever they had between them he was going to take it seriously.

Harry looked up at Steve, studying him curiously, trying to figure out his own emotions more than anything else. He hadn't been in a serious relationship since he and Ginny had slipt up, right before he had become an Auror. His fame had always got in the way of him forming anything meaningful with anyone. It had been so bad once that his one night stand had asked him for a photo and an autograph as they had got ready to leave, it was enough to put anyone off people. However, Steve didn't know anything about that, Harry could see himself starting over here and simply because no one knew who he was.

Of course there were all of the half-truths and the things that he had to conceal from him, at least for the moment but in time, Harry was sure that Steve could be told most of them. He couldn't deny that he found himself wanting to try, it was something he had wanted for such a long time and he had none of his usual excuses to hold him back.

"I don't usually do relationships," Harry said honestly, testing the waters a little, his voice soft and withdrawn as he spoke. His fingers traced patterns across his lover's bare chest, a sensation that Steve found he rather enjoyed. "At home there were so many reasons why I avoided anything meaningful," he tried to explain.

"And what about here?" Steve asked, making a mental note to ask what the reasons were another time, all the while watching Harry rather intently. He found the young man fascinating and he truly wanted to get to know him more, both his mind and his body.

"It's a fresh start," Harry said with a smile, placing a soft kiss to Steve's chest, truly feeling as if this was right. He couldn't explain it but he felt safe here in the larger man's arms, it was a feeling that he had never had with anyone that had shared his bed.

"Does that mean you want a relationship?" Steve asked, not wanting to get his hopes up if he had misinterpreted what Harry had meant. He had seen how flirtatious Harry had been, his reliance on alcohol was also painfully clear even after just the one night together but despite all of that Steve felt an undeniable attraction to this man and he wanted him more than he had ever wanted anything.

"I want to try if you do," Harry said with a smile. In response, Steve just grinned, pulling him into a passionate kiss, tongues dancing together as hands wandered lower, groping and touching each other in the most private and intimate of places.

Relationships were new and different to both of them so they were more than aware that it was going to be a complete learning curve but it seemed that they both wanted to give it a try, which meant they could figure things out together. The problem was that both of them were keeping secrets and they were also both aware that it was never going to work if they kept lying to one another.

"Let's find some clothes," Steve suggested as he broke the kiss, thinking that they needed to get dressed before they started something that would make them late to their meeting this morning. "I'll find you something from my room," he said, knowing that Harry didn't have anything clean to wear, though convinced that his clothes were not going to fit the smaller man.

"Shall I grab my towel then?" Harry asked in amusement as Steve began to untangle himself from Harry and the covers that had managed to twist themselves around the two of them, almost binding them together.

"Not a chance," Steve said as he went for his clothes, "you'll only drop it again. What happened to your clothes?" he asked, looking over to where Harry was starting to sit up, stretching and giving Steve a proper eyeful.

"They stink of plane, there is no chance I can wear them again and not seem like a vagrant," Harry said, his nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought of putting yesterday's clothes on again.

Steve just rolled his eyes, though he did see Harry's point. He wouldn't have wanted to put the same clothes on again either when he had been travelling in them all day. "Here," he said handing over his boxers and t-shirt to Harry, "put these on instead."

"Wearing your boxers," Harry mused with a smile on his face, pulling the white boxer shorts on while still on the bed, "very kinky Cap."

Steve gave Harry a look of disdain as he pulled on his trousers, watching as Harry too got dressed, pulling the too big t-shirt over his head. He did think it rather a shame for them to be putting clothes on but they did have a briefing to attend with the others and Fury in little under an hour so they didn't really have time for much else. Harry, however, had other plans and as he clambered off the bed he wrapped his arms around Steve's neck and kissed him for all he was worth, their morning erections not having died down much at all.

What Steve was not aware of was that Harry, being the devious little minx that he was, had a plan in mind. It was a rather wonderful plan, at least from Harry's perspective it was and he didn't care in the slightest that it might make them late for the briefing.

With Harry unwilling to end their kiss, Steve had to physically pick up the smaller man and carry him out of the bedroom, where thankfully the god-awful song had stopped playing, and towards the elevator. Jabbing the button, while still ravishing Harry's mouth, the lift door slid open within seconds and Steve was able to manoeuvre them inside, never breaking the kiss.

However, the moment Steve had put Harry down on his own two feet, and the doors were shut, the speaker system within in the lift suddenly came to life. _I'm horny, horny, horny, horny. So horny, I'm horny, horny, horny. I'm horny, horny, horny, horny. So horny, I'm horny, horny, horny tonight._ The sound of the lyrics to a song that they both actually recognized made them break apart, both of them willing to hurt Tony in a serious way.

"I think I'm going to kill him," Steve said with a groan as Harry snuggled into him. Tony Stark certainly did have a strange sense of humour, though now that he was more awake it seemed to be one that Harry understood as he was smiling a little.

The music unfortunately didn't stop until the lift did, the doors sliding open, revealing Bruce, who was clearly on his way up to the communal floor for breakfast, a book tucked under one arm. He looked a little shocked to see Harry and Steve already in the elevator in various states of undress; however he passed no comment as he got in. Harry was trying not to burst into a fit of laughter and poor Steve was looking a little tense at the intrusion on their privacy.

"Good morning," Bruce said as he got in and pressed the button for floor seventy-five, the communal kitchen, and dining area. He hadn't failed to note how cuddly the two of them seemed to be. Harry was leaning his weight against the larger man, Steve having an arm around Harry, holing him there.

"Morning," Steve returned a little stiffly as the lift began to ascend upwards, hopeful that Tony was now done with his little prank. It was awkward enough to have Bruce there with them at all, however it would have made it so much worse if another song about them having sex had started playing.

"Have fun last night?" Bruce asked innocently, trying not to smile as he took in the fact that the two of them were only half dressed, and what Harry was wearing was clearly Steve's clothing.

"I didn't think you were one for gossip, Bruce," Steve said rather sternly, which set off Harry's sniggering. He was finding the whole situation rather funny, the fact that he was half hard in a lift with two rather attractive men was putting him in a rather good mood; though he was rather looking forward to having Captain America all to himself again very soon.

"Not usually," he agreed with a small smile to Steve who couldn't help but glare at him as the lift came to a stop at level sixty-nine. This was another personal joke of Tony's, one that Steve didn't find in the least bit amusing. "See you when you're finished," Bruce said with a small chuckle as Steve ushered Harry out of the lift into the hallway outside his personal rooms.

"Oh I like him," Harry said with amusement as the elevator doors closed and the two of them were left alone once again. Steve said nothing in return, grabbing Harry to him and pressing their lips together. "Now we're definitely going to be late," Harry said as he broke the kiss, dropping down to his knees.

"What are you… oh," Steve said as Harry's hands went to the button and zipper of his trousers. Harry was grinning broadly as he opened the fastenings, reaching inside to find the prize that he wanted. Steve gasped as the smaller man's hands made contact, still not at all used to the feel of someone else touching him there, as Harry's hand enclosed around his erection, gently pulling it free from its confines.

Before Steve could protest any more Harry had taken the tip of his erection into his mouth, tongue running over the head, almost making Steve's knees buckle with the unexpected sensation. Harry gripped Steve's hips, controlling how much the other man could thrust forward. Since it was Steve's first time he seemed to get rather lost in the sensation of it all and he could hardly control himself and Harry knew that they were going to have to find somewhere for Steve to sit down before he fell down.

Just as Harry was about to withdraw and suggest this, he felt Steve's hands weave into his hair, encouraging him to continue and so he did. Hollowing out his cheeks, Harry took Steve's cock deeper into his mouth until the tip brushed the back of his throat. He had spent a good few years learning to suppress his gag reflex and could take it easily now.

Swallowing around his partner's erection, Harry was filled with confidence when Steve groaned with pleasure, hands forming fists in raven hair, sparking small jolts of pain, though there were not ones that Harry didn't find enjoyable. There was certainly something very arousing about the other man's dominance and this small amount of pain gave him undeniable pleasure.

"Oh, Harry," Steve moaned. He had heard of people doing this, but it was never something he had experienced before, though certainly something he was already hoping to have again at some point. It was very different to what they had done the night before, but even the sight of Harry on his knees was a complete turn on. The waves of pleasure had forced his eyes closed now though, but he could have watched his cock disappearing past those sweet pink lips all day.

Harry was a talented young man in many things it seemed, Steve wanted to shout with ecstasy as the smaller man withdrew to run his tongue along the underside of his erection. Harry swirled his tongue around the head, lapping up leaking drops of pre cum, sending waves of pleasure shooting through Steve's body.

He wasn't quite sure how he was still on his feet, given how light-headed it all made him feel, though the hand he had threaded into Harry's hair was helping to keep him slightly grounded. It was taking great concentration for him to not pull too hard, knowing all too well how easy it was for him to hurt others given the strength the serum had given him.

With his breathing coming fast and heavy he knew that he was getting close, especially now that one of Harry's hands had moved from his waist to play with his balls. With his heart racing, Steve couldn't hold it back any more, his balls getting tighter and a heat building in his stomach. He didn't even have a chance to shout a warning as he came, spilling his seed into Harry's willing mouth.

As Harry withdrew, Steve dropped down to his knees so that they were facing one another, pulling the smaller man into a passionate kiss, finding it rather erotic that he could taste himself upon Harry's tongue. Never mind the fact that they were kneeling on the floor in the hallway just in front of the lift doors where anyone could happen upon them at any moment, neither of them caring about their various states of undress.

"Stop," Steve said a little breathless, breaking the kiss as Harry went to remove his t-shirt, the smaller of the two wanting a whole lot more. "We don't have time," he said as Harry looked at him questioningly.

"They'll wait," Harry said with a shrug, rather enjoying his moment with Steve and not wanting it to end. Never before had Harry cared so little for a mission, never had his one night stands ever gone further than the night they were started and not once had he ever put them before his work. Steve was different though, he was something that he hadn't even known he had been looking for; someone who didn't know who he was and didn't judge him for his past.

"We can't," Steve said, giving harry a chaste kiss to his lips, "but we should shower before we go up, I think we smell."

"A sign of very good sex," Harry said cheekily, his hands running up Steve's bare, muscled chest, "I'll agree to that, if we shower together," he added, looking at the muscled man with lust in his eyes, thinking that showering with Captain America was definitely something he was interested in.

"And you think I don't already know you well enough to know how that would play out?" Steve asked, amusement twinkling in blue eyes that made Harry smile at him. Harry really loved the small grin that played on the larger man's lips, Steve's small insecurities and the endearing feistiness that came to the forefront with his confidence.

"Well it's hardly my fault you are so… distracting," Harry said, his eyes sweeping over the almost naked body of his lover, Steve's now flaccid cock still hanging out of his trousers as the two of them kissed and fondled one another.

"I have honestly never met anyone like you before," Steve said in utter bewilderment, not entirely sure where Harry could have come from to make him as he was. His confidence was astounding, his talent in the bedroom truly amazing but he knew that behind the handsome face there were emotional traumas that had left scars, he knew this because he had them himself, he had seen a flicker of them in Harry the night before and it only made him want to know Harry more.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or be offended," Harry said with mock seriousness as Steve stood up, finding it too uncomfortable to kneel on the floor any more, his legs finally having recovered enough from his orgasm to walk. When he was finally on his feet, he turned and gathered Harry up into his arms by the waist, the smaller man obliging by wrapping his legs around Steve's waist.

"Trust me, it's a compliment," Steve said with amusement, heading to where he knew the bathroom to be, thinking that this might be the only way to get them both clean and to the meeting on time. It was clear that Harry's libido was rather difficult to satisfy.

"I think you might have to prove it," Harry said as he was carried through the corridors, Steve finally kicking open the bathroom door as he had his hands full and finally placing Harry back on his own two feet so that they could finish undressing. He wasn't sure how his trousers had stayed up, they were clinging to his waist but only barely, Steve was pretty sure that if it hadn't have been for Harry's legs then they would have fallen off by now.

"And to think I believed that I would never have anyone in my life cause me more trouble than Tony," Steve said grinning, watching as Harry removed the t-shirt and was left only in a pair of too large boxer shorts that were on the verge of sliding off Harry's slender waist all on their own. Steve honestly wasn't sure how it was even possible but he could feel himself growing hard again, just from watching Harry disrobe.

-x

"Where are they?" Clint asked somewhat grumpily. He was sat in a meeting room waiting on Steve and Harry to make an appearance. The fact that he hadn't even been allowed to get coffee before the damned briefing was putting him in a foul mood, which, combined with the fact that his hair was still electric blue was making him rather on edge. It was perhaps a good thing that he had left his more lethal weapons elsewhere.

"They seemed slightly preoccupied when I saw them in the elevator this morning," Bruce said coyly, he was in a slightly better mood than Clint, having woken up earlier than him and had time to get some breakfast and earl grey tea with honey, his favourite, before joining the others for their meeting. He wasn't entirely shocked that Steve and Harry were yet to arrive considering the state they had been in when he had seen them in the lift.

"I made sure they woke up in time," Tony said with amusement. He was feeling rather pleased with himself about the little joke he had played on the pair. "You owe me, Clint, you know those two shacked up last night." Clint glowered unhappily at Stark as the man sipped at his Starbucks. How he had managed to get the damn drink so early was beyond Clint who was sitting there thoroughly under caffeinated for so early in the morning.

"I can testify to that if the way they were acting this morning is anything to go by," Bruce said, "Both of them wearing Steve's clothes and being very cuddly, though I didn't see anything intimate, thankfully."

"They had sex?" Thor questioned, not entirely understanding the subtle innuendo that was being bantered about. Bruce was a man that he could usually understand, unless it was science that he was discussing, but this morning was an exception. In Asgard things did not need to be so subtle.

Fury was stood, arms crossed and looking menacing at the front of the room. He, along with Natasha, were the only two that remained silent, neither of them having the inclination to join in the conversation. Nick was not best pleased with the situation, Harry was here to be protected, not to be the play mate of his avengers.

From what Kingsley had told him, he knew that Harry was somewhat promiscuous but regardless, he hadn't expected for him to bed one of the Avengers on his first night in America. However, he couldn't deny that he was curious about the combination of magic and serum, this was something that fascinated him so despite being a little annoyed, he wasn't going to say anything to them. If they were going to waste his time then he saw no problem with using them as an experiment of sorts.

"Sorry we're late," Steve said, suddenly entering the room, ushering Harry in front of him, both of them looking a little flushed, their hair still wet from the shower, which had gone exactly how Steve had expected it to go. Harry truly was insatiable.

Harry had had to take some of Steve's clothes because otherwise he really would have been coming to the meeting in his towel, a suggestion that Steve had vetoed instantly for the second time when they had finally got out of the shower they had shared. Luckily Harry had been able to shrink the borrowed clothes down well enough to fit him, though they weren't exactly comfortable on him. He was going to have to go out and buy some new stuff sooner rather than later.

"You don't look sorry," Natasha said, glaring at the two men, her lips pressed into a thin line. She did not approve of the team blurring the lines between work and personal in the way that Harry and Steve clearly were. She had restrained herself when it came to Clint for years because it had been frowned upon. The fact that Steve and Harry were so blatantly flaunting what they were doing made her angry.

"He isn't," Harry returned cheekily as he took a seat at the table with everyone else, Steve taking the seat beside him, cheeks scarlet with embarrassment from Harry's words. He wasn't accustomed to everyone knowing about his private business and he wasn't sure he liked it either. It was something that the two of them would have to discuss later.

"If you are done with your childish games," Fury said, clearly growing rather tired of the banter, "We have more urgent matters to deal with." Immediately silence fell across the gathered team, the seriousness of Fury's tone echoing around the room. "Loki has been seen on earth," he continued somewhat solemnly.

"How did he escape?" Clint demanded at once, of course none of them were shocked with this revelation, not after Thor's dramatic arrival the night before but it didn't mean they were happy about it. Clint was always going to take this more personally than the others because of the last time Loki had come into their lives.

"He had assistance," Thor said, clearly unhappy with the situation. Escaping from Asgardian custody was no easy feat to achieve and he wanted to know how it had been done so that he could stop it from happening again.

"Who would help him?" Natasha asked, she didn't want Loki back on this planet any more than the others did. The devastation that he had caused the last time he was here had been catastrophic. The city was still licking its wounds and rebuilding from that and it was going to do no one any good for another Alien force to try their luck.

"What does he want this time?" Tony asked, thinking on what Thor has asked Harry the evening before. He glanced over to the British man who was watching and listening intently, concentrating on what was being said.

"This," Fury said, pressing a button on the computer in front of him and the screens on the wall behind him lit up, showing a picture of a round sphere that seemed to glow an eerie green colour in the centre, strips of thin, silver lines criss-crossing all over it. "It fell to earth two months ago and hasn't been seen since."

"What is its purpose?" Thor asked, it was not something that he had seen before and this worried him. He couldn't even allocate it to a race that he knew of. This concerned him because if it truly was Alien then he should have been aware of it before now.

"From what we can tell it registers the natural ability of the person holing it and duplicates power, storing it inside the body until it is extracted," Fury explained. "We were able to extract readings from it before it landed and from what we can tell, the power inside it is immense; certainly not something we want Loki to get his hands on."

"Where has Loki been seen?" Harry asked, thinking that he might already know the answer. He had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, one of worry and concern because he recognized this sphere and he knew exactly where it had ended up because he had been the one to put it there.

"London," Fury said, meeting Harry's eyes and sharing a look with him. The Director pressed another button and brought up several pictures that covered the screens, pictures of Loki, actually trying to blend in with the crowd and another man, a red head, someone who seemed horribly familiar to Harry. "He seems to have recruited a man with similar abilities to Harry's," Fury explained as the gathered Avenger's observed the pictures. Harry however didn't need to, he recognized the red head in the photo's already. At the sight of his friend his fists had clenched, anger sparking a fire inside of him.

"That is why you brought him on board, to help," Natasha said, casting a glance over to Harry who had tensed up considerably, trying very hard to remain calm.

"Harry," Steve whispered, having noticed that the man beside him had tensed considerably, "Are you alright?" he asked and gave a frown of concern when Harry shook his head softly, unable to form words.

"Who this man is and the purpose to which Loki wants to use him is still being questioned," Fury said, only to stop as Harry shook his head.

"That man is George Weasley, he is a friend of mine," Harry said somewhat stiffly. His mind was going a mile a minute, unable to think clearly and not understanding how this world had so horribly collided with his own.

"That can't be a coincidence," Steve said, looking to Director Fury, "the fact that he's here, that Loki is targeting people he knows."

"And that sphere thing didn't disappear, I found it, on my last field assignment before my promotion, my partner at the time died trying to remove it and put it somewhere safe," Harry said, the guilt of this death was still weighing on his conscience, another life that he hadn't been able to save.

"You can access this?" Fury asked, a little shocked himself that Harry would have access to this item. Even he had not been expecting that. He had known that Loki was after Harry and that was why Kingsley had sent Harry to them, to keep him out of harms way. Of course Nick had failed to let his brother know that he knew Loki, the new dark threat rising up against the wizarding world and Harry would be no safer with them than at home under the watchful eyes of the Ministry of Magic.

"I can, I'm the only one who can," Harry said with certainty. He had placed this item in the Ministry himself, securing it with protective enchantments that only he would be able to break. He had made sure that this item that had caused the death of a fellow Auror was unreachable by anyone who could do damage with it.

"You're sure?" Tony asked, looking a little concerned. "Even the best locks can be cracked," he added looking rather sceptical.

"There aren't any locks," Harry said somewhat testily. "Not even George will be able to get to it, it isn't' possible. I can't explain to you how or why without breaking a hundred laws from my world so just trust me when I tell you that no one can get it but me."

"So Loki does want you," Thor said, his eyes narrowed at Harry. He had thought that it was just too much of a coincidence that the young man was here, with them and had nothing to do with his little brother making a break back to earth.

"What happens if Loki gets his hands on this device?" Bruce asked, he had been sitting rather silently, contemplating everything that was being said and he now wanted to know what the worst case scenario was if they failed.

"He'd get my power and whatever else was in that sphere when it landed here," Harry said somewhat bitterly.

"How would be get your power?" Steve questioned with concern, looking at Harry, worried by how he was reacting. He had never had a friend manipulated and used against him so he had no idea how it felt but just by the look on Harry's face he knew that it was bad.

"I touched it, it would have absorbed my power and duplicated it too," Harry said, not under any delusion that this was what had happened. Now that the sphere had wizarding power, Harry knew that he was in this to the bitter end no matter what happened. The kind of power that they had as wizards was not something that they wanted falling into alien hands.

"How does one go about extracting the power?" Thor asked, Loki must have had a way if it was his plan to do just that. It couldn't be easy, seeking power in such vast quantities never was, there would need to be some kind of sacrifice.

"Information on that is limited," Fury said, his tone heavy with frustration. It was clear that S.H.I.E.L.D had very little information regarding this unidentified object, which was very unlike them as an organisation. They had assumed Alien as it had fallen from the sky but normally when it came to anything extra terrestrial they knew what they were dealing with rather than being utterly clueless. Fury was starting to think that it might not have been alien at all but magical instead, in which case it was exactly where it needed to be.

"If Loki is in London then why was I sent here?" Harry suddenly questioned, looking to Fury with fire in his emerald eyes. In Harry's mind there had been so many things that hadn't added up from the beginning and now he was even more suspicious. "You didn't ask for my help did you?"

None of them knew where to look or what to say. Of course Harry had hit the nail on the end with that question but none of them wanted to confirm it, it wasn't their job to do so, it was Fury who had bought Harry in and it was therefore his responsibility to tell Harry the truth now that he had figured it out. Though, not even Fury had thought that Harry would catch on as quickly as he had and he didn't quite know what to tell him.

When Fury had agreed with his brother that Harry could come here to be protected he had known that Loki was a threat and he had thought that having a wizard on the side of the Avengers couldn't hurt, though he hadn't told Kingsley that. He had allowed his brother to believe that the young man was here purely for protection. Now it seemed that Loki was the force that Kingsley had been trying to protect Harry from and sending him away for his protection had backfired horribly.

"I knew it," Harry said shaking his head in disbelief when no one said anything, confirming his suspicions. He knew that Kingsley had been acting weird and not telling him everything before he left for the so called mission, practically lying to him to get him to come here. "You all knew didn't you," Harry said looking around at each of the Avenger's who all looked a little sheepish, "Even you," he added, turning to look at Steve accusingly.

"We weren't suppose to tell you," Steve said, his tone full of regret, "We were just meant to protect you," he added and to his credit the first Avenger did look as sorry as he sounded. Last night and this morning for Steve had been amazing, truly mind blowing and he wanted it to carry on but the anger burning in Harry's eyes was terrifying to him.

"And sleeping with me an added bonus?" Harry snarled, getting to his feet. "Excuse me," he said, addressing the rest of the group, "I need a moment." Then without another word he turned and left, trying not to storm out in a huff, simply leaving them to it. He needed some time to think, after all he had been lied to by people he thought that he trusted.

George was in trouble and Harry knew that that meant that Ron would be getting involved back home, putting himself at risk. Hell, Harry would be shocked if Hermione wasn't involved with trying to save him too. He didn't know what motivation Kingsley had had for taking him out of the situation but he was going to find out, no matter what it took.

Harry wasn't entirely sure where he wanted to go as he made a sharp jab at the call button for the elevator but he knew that he didn't want to be found for a while. No where in Stark tower was not going to give him the privacy that he needed. All Tony had to do was ask Jarvis to scan the tower and they'd instantly know where he was.

Stepping into the lift, Harry made the rash decision that he was going for a walk. Pressing the ground floor option with considerable force the elevator began to descend. Essentially he wasn't mad at Steve, Tony or the others, they had been following orders, he hadn't known them long and Harry could tell that for all of them bar only Tony and Bruce, following orders was a way of life. They wouldn't have questioned a mission from someone they trusted, just like he hadn't when Kingsley had spoken to him about coming here.

The only issue Harry had with what Steve had done was that he had looked him in the eye and asked if he could trust him. There hadn't been any hesitation or doubt when Steve had said yes and Harry had, perhaps foolishly, believed him. He liked Steve, they had bonded, physically and emotionally the night before, Harry having told him things very few people knew but he couldn't help but feel a little betrayed.

Stepping out of the lift on the ground floor Harry started to stride purposefully towards the exit, needing to be outside and away from the Avengers for a little while, just so he could get his head around things. He fully intended on coming back in a few hours, perhaps after he had done some shopping because he didn't want to have to rely on the others to provide clothes for him.

Thankfully no one tried to stop him as he left, outside there were a few fan girls still lingering but they weren't interested in him, they had no idea who he was so they didn't even look his way as he came out of the building and started walking.

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review for me.<p> 


	6. Unwelcome Attention

The Affliction of War

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><p>Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. I'm so glad that you're all still enjoying the story. Please enjoy this new chapter and don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think.<p>

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><p>Chapter Six - Unwelcome Attention<p>

"Leave him," Director Fury said as the lift door closed on Harry and he was gone. Steve had looked as if he was about to get up and go after him but Nick couldn't let that happen, not just yet, not until they had figured out some sort of plan for how to deal with Loki. Members of the team had gone AWOL before, it was nothing new, and he knew that Harry was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, so he wasn't particularly worried.

In truth, the pictures of Loki and George were a week old by now, there had been no sign of either George or of Loki in that time. Whatever he was doing he was being uncharacteristically quiet. Subtle had never been something that Loki was capable of before now and it was a worry because without hide nor hair of him they had no idea what he was doing. Loki had always had a flare for the dramatics, whatever he was up to couldn't be good.

They were lucky that Harry's temporary move from the United Kingdom to America had been so discreet. There was only one person in England that knew his exact location so Nick Fury was sure that Harry was safe to wander off on his own for the time being. Baring a media storm declaring him to be an Avenger and living in New York, Loki wouldn't have a clue where he had been hidden away.

Harry therefore could be allowed this time to gather his thoughts and he could then come back to them in his own time when he had calmed down, just like Bruce had returned during the battle of New York. Besides, Harry had the right to storm off given the lies that had brought him here. He would let the others go and try to reason with him once they were done here.

"Aren't we still meant to protect him?" Steve argued, fighting the instinct he had to follow Harry and make sure nothing happened to him. He felt rather guilty for having told Harry that he could be trusted when he had been lying. He wanted to follow the younger man and explain himself, though he wasn't sure what good it would do, Harry was clearly furious and feeling rather betrayed; it had been hard enough to get Harry to open up to him the first time.

"He can protect himself," Natasha said bluntly, tired of babying the young man already. She could respect him as a fighter, even with the little that she had been seen, but they had another mission now too, Harry was not their only priority.

"That is not the point," Steve said rather harshly, glaring at Natasha. She had been somewhat hostile towards Harry since the moment that he had arrived the day before, so he didn't expect for her to be sympathetic but he hadn't thought that she would disregard Harry completely like she was now. "Making sure that Loki doesn't get this sphere is the job we have to do, and Harry is part of that! Even if you ignore our orders to keep him safe."

"Alright, Miss Congeniality," Tony said, wanting to tone down the tension in the room. "As long as Harry is in the tower he'll be fine." He added, he was confident in his security system, no one was getting into Avenger's tower without his or Happy's knowledge. It was more than Happy's job's worth to allow someone unauthorized into the tower. Besides that no one who wasn't authorized could access the lift, Tony had made sure of this personally.

"As long as he stays in the tower," Bruce pointed out. He was under no delusion about Harry's fiery temper and thought that the young man probably wouldn't put his own safety first when in a bad mood. He was fairly sure that Harry had probably already left the tower or was about to; he knew he would have in his place. Bruce could see, even from the little he knew of the young man, that Harry would do what he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it.

"Why would he leave?" Thor asked, feeling a little confused. He hadn't been told that they were meant to be protecting Harry so he didn't understand why Harry had reacted the way he had, or the emotion behind why the young man had stormed out in the first place. In Thor's mind, he was here to take his little brother home and in the process of this, stop Loki from getting his hands on the unspeakable power the sphere contained. He dreaded to thinking what might happen if Loki got his hands on that much power.

"Jarvis," Tony said, "please locate Harry." He wanted to put everyone's mind at ease and assure them that Harry had gone to his room and not left the tower because then they could get on with the meeting and figure out how they were going to deal with Loki.

"Harry is on the ground floor, Sir" the computer animated voice of Jarvis informed them. For a moment no one knew what to say, all of them looking to one another, waiting for someone to react or to say anything. "Harry has now exited the building, Sir."

"I'm going after him," Steve said decisively, getting to his feet rather suddenly. If he left now then he would hopefully be able to catch Harry before he went too far. Loki might have been in London as far as they knew but that didn't mean that Harry would be safe wandering the streets of New York. There was no telling who Loki had on his side this time if he had been able to coerce a friend of Harry's to help him. Not to mention the fact that it was a strange city to Harry, he had no idea where he was going or what areas to avoid.

"Captain, you are letting your heart take president, the mission should come first," Director Fury said sternly as Steve headed for the door, not bothering to look back. Nick wasn't particularly surprised that the relationship the two men had struck had come back to bite them in the ass, but he was annoyed that it had done so as quickly as this. He frowned upon his Agents striking up relationships, though admittedly he had been curious about the combination of magic and science in these two but not to the point where he would let it interfere with their work in this way. Fury had underestimated how fast Steve would develop sentimentality towards Harry.

"Harry is the mission," Steve returned somewhat snappishly without turning to look at the others or waiting for any further responses before leaving the room and heading for the lift. The other Avenger's watched him go through the wall of glass, none of them knowing what to say. They weren't accustomed to seeing emotional outbursts of this nature from Steve, it was something new and different for them all.

"Well that was nice and dramatic," Tony said with a smile once Steve had gone, trying to break the tension that had been left behind when the two men had departed. No one wanted to point out how dangerous it was that Steve and Harry were already so close and no one dared to question the affect the serum might have had on Steve's emotions, though they were all thinking about it, Nick Fury especially.

"If we are going to stop Loki from getting his hands on this sphere then Harry will need to be trained on how to fight him. If the worst happens and Harry falls into Loki's hands, he needs to be able to resist him," Fury said, ignoring Stark and his particular brand of humour. "Barton, perhaps you should do the honours."

"What, why me?" Clint demanded, unhappy that he seemed to have drawn the short straw on this unwelcome task. He didn't want to have to train anyone; fair enough, Harry had abilities but that didn't mean that he could fight worth a damn. Clint cared very little for Harry's boastings that he had been trained by the best in his world, it was a claim that meant nothing here.

"Because," Fury began, "if you're nice to him, perhaps he'll change your hair back," Fury said and although he was trying to keep it in check they could all hear the amusement in his tone. Clint scowled at Fury, narrowing his eyes, but said nothing, folding his arms across his chest in a clear huff.

"Fine," he grumbled, never one to defy orders, even one's he didn't like or didn't agree with. If this was what Director Fury wanted him to do then he would do it; he could certainly see the benefits of having his hair turned back to its original colour.

"Is he really going to be able to help us?" Natasha asked sceptically. "He seems more of a liability." One day with them and Harry had already caused Steve to walk out on the team, in her mind the new team member that they were supposed to be protecting was more of a loose cannon than an asset.

"I'm inclined to agree with Natasha," Bruce said a little sadly. "As talented as he seems to be and as extraordinary as his abilities are, he is the key to Loki getting hold of this sphere and the power that it holds. We can't allow the two of them to get too close to each other, is it wise to have him helping us?"

"Loki will not stop until he has what he wants," Thor stated with a frown, knowing his brother well enough to be confident in this judgement. To him, Harry was so little and even though he too had been impressed with the young man's rather unique skills, he knew that it would not be enough against his little brother, not when he wanted something so badly.

"Then we protect him," Tony said with a shrug. He had grown fond of the young man already and he wasn't about to let him fall into the hands of Loki. In truth, Tony didn't understand what all the fuss was about.

"We should find out more about this sphere, whatever it's origins are. We should find out what would need to be done to open it, so that we can prevent it from happening," Bruce said, mulling things over. The more they found out the better in his mind, because at least if they knew what they were dealing with then they could be better prepared.

"I will return to Asgard and find out what I can," Thor said, his booming voice still sounding confident despite the situation.

"Thor, talk to Jane, she might be able to help," Fury suggested and Thor nodded, looking less sure about this plan but agreeing regardless because Nick was right, Jane would be able to help. "I have my best agents working on this but for now find out what you can about the sphere and train Harry because Loki is coming for him."

-x

Harry had not taken the time to realise that he had no idea where he was going when he had made the decision to leave Avengers Tower and that was why he was now wandering aimlessly around New York City looking for some kind of shopping centre or mens clothing store. However, he wasn't getting anywhere fast, though in truth the walk itself was enough just to calm him down a little. He didn't want to be angry at any of the Avengers, not even Steve.

Half an hour later and Harry was nowhere close to finding what he wanted. He was hot and sweaty, the heat of the early August sun beating down on him and by this point he was fairly fed up with all the hustle and bustle. New York was busy, lots of people milling around, knocking into him, not even looking where they were going. To top it off he had the feeling that he was being watched, it was a sensation that had been with him for the last fifteen minutes or so, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He was fairly sure that he was being followed, which didn't bode well considering the fact that he was fairly certain he was now lost. His amazing Auror instincts were failing him, he was in an unfamiliar city and he had left the only place where he knew where he was. He could see the top of Avenger Tower, so he was halfway sure that he could navigate his way back, he just didn't want to go back, not yet.

Lost in his thoughts, preoccupied with what had happened in the meeting that morning, Harry barely had time to stop himself colliding with someone as they stepped right in front of him. "Sorry," Harry went to say, glancing up to look at the person he had nearly barrelled his way into.

The man in question was grinning broadly at him, he had a light brown stubble across his jaw and pale green eyes that swept over Harry rather appreciatively. When Harry took a moment to fully observe this man, he realised that he seemed to be wearing some rather mismatched clothing. The fluorescent blue trousers combined with the neon yellow t-shirt that had a black mesh vest top over it gave away that this person didn't exactly belong in the muggle world. The shoes were the best piece of clothing in Harry's mind, they seemed to be platform trainers of some description, it was a miracle that the man could walk at all. They made him tower over Harry though.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked, fearing that this man was a wizard; he certainly looked like a few that Harry had seen trying to blend, unsuccessfully, into the muggle world. The last thing he needed was to be recognized here, it was something that had never occurred to him. Sure he was famous in England but he hadn't thought that that would be the case in America too.

"You're… Harry Potter," the man said, speaking his name in a whisper of excitement. In fact the man seemed so overly jubilant about meeting him that he seemed to be having trouble breathing. Harry was fearful that the older gentleman might pass out at any moment due to the fact he was almost hyperventilating.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Harry asked; he had been worried that this might happen, though he had thought it very unlikely. He knew that America had its own wizarding population, their own version of Diagon Alley and Hogwarts but he hadn't been expecting to run into them in the middle of New York. Though considering how heavily the wizarding world was based in London, Harry realised how stupid he had been to think that New York wouldn't be the same.

"No, of course not but I know you," the man said, hopping from foot to foot in excitement as he turned to beckon someone else over. When Harry turned to see who this was he noticed three other men, all of them dressed in similar attire to the first man. An easy feeling settled in Harry's gut, there was something that just didn't feel right about this, his guard immediately up.

"Of course you do," Harry said with a sigh. He had never cared to find out how much the other countries knew about the war he had fought back home or how far his fame had spread across the world. Harry had never seen the need to travel before, far too engrossed in his work to take holidays and such. He realised now that this was an oversight and something he should have looked into before coming here.

By this point the first man's three friends had joined him, all of them looking just as excited as the first. They were starting to draw attention to themselves with their excited squealing and exclamations of, "I can't believe it's Harry Potter!"

All four men were young-ish, in their late twenties or early thirties. None of them really knew how to dress to blend into muggle society but then again, in the middle of New York, it just seemed like an odd fashion statement. None of them had their wands drawn but Harry had been trained to notice things and he knew that each man had them stowed in the waistbands of their trousers, probably for easy access.

"Trying to keep a low profile here," Harry tried to tell them, however it was to no avail, none of them actually seemed to be listening to what he was trying to say. Instead they were flapping parchment and quills in his face, trying to get him to sign them. It was a little overwhelming and entirely confusing to have so much shoved in his face at the one time. Harry was starting to feel a little disorientated, which he realised was probably the point.

Holding his hands up in refusal, Harry was shaking his head, trying to explain that he didn't do autographs. He needed to get out of the situation, he knew they were trying to confuse and disorientate him more, he just didn't know for what purpose and Harry honestly didn't want to find out. However the four wizards were relentless, wanting to take photographs too, they seemed to have some form of muggle disposal cameras. Harry wasn't sure how well they would work when combined with magic but he didn't want to take the chance.

The four wizards were all talking a mile a minute and Harry was struggling to keep up with what they were saying. He was hugely shocked when one of them put an arm over his shoulders while a second snapped a photograph; the flash of which blinded him momentarily. His ears pricked up rather suddenly when he heard mention of brunch and the four wizards tried to usher him along the street.

"No," Harry tried to say, alarm bells ringing in his mind as he starting to put up some resistance against them taking him anywhere. However it was four against one and he really didn't stand a chance, not even with all of his training. "I really can't," Harry tried to insist but the four poorly dressed wizards were really not paying any attention, all of them too excited to be seeing Harry Potter to actually listen to anything he had to say.

"We'll have lunch," the wizard that had first approached him said, "We can show you round the city, it'll be great," he rambled, speaking so fast that Harry only just managed to catch what he was saying. "I can't believe I've met the actual Harry Potter, it is such an honour!"

"I can't," Harry said again, digging his heels in. He didn't want to use magic and cause a scene. These people were fairly innocent as far as he could tell, all they were guilty of was over enthusiasm and Harry didn't think that they deserved to be cursed because of this. He was far too used to people acting like this back home for it to phase him much here.

"We know this great little café," he kept on, insistent that Harry needed to come and eat with them. It didn't seem to matter how much he protested, they weren't listening to him and aside from using magic and causing a scene in front of a lot of muggles, which was likely to be frowned upon by the wizarding authorities, there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Let me go," Harry insisted, struggling to pull himself free from where he had been grabbed. One wizard still had an arm around his shoulder, another had hold of his arm, the other two were just surrounding him as he was dragged along the street. "Let me go," Harry said again, this time a little louder than the first. He had no leverage to pull his arms away from these men, his legs to busy holding him upright as he was pulled along to kick out at them. The best hope he had was to cause a scene that wouldn't get him into trouble with the American Ministry for Magic.

"No, no, don't be like that, we just want lunch," one of the wizards who wasn't holding on to him said, though his tone wasn't entirely innocent and he added a somewhat salacious wink in his direction to top it off. The tone of his voice made Harry feel physically sick at the thought of the ulterior motives of these four men. He was starting to realise that even though they might very well have been a little starstruck by him, they still wanted something from him, just like everyone else.

"We heard you like to be shared," the fourth man said in a whisper with a little laugh, "ever been shared between four?" he asked and copped a feel of Harry's behind as he said this, making Harry tense up as the hand cupped his arse cheek.

"Don't you touch me again!" Harry snapped, redoubling his efforts to get away from these four wizards. He had been aware that the Prophet and other various publications had been very keen to report on his promiscuous activities over the years, as well as interview anyone that he had slept with. They had paid a lot of money for those kind of interviews, Harry had no idea that these publications had been spread so far across the world.

For the first time in his life he felt ashamed of himself for not having cared, for not having given it more than a few seconds thought. He had barreled through his life, dangerous mission after dangerous mission, filling his down time with bedding men and women in an attempt to make himself feel alive and connected but all it had got him was a promiscuous reputation and a whole world of trouble.

"Don't be like that," the first wizard said, "We'll make sure that you have a good time!"

By this point, with all of Harry's insistence that he be released, they were starting to draw attention to themselves. People around them were starting to stare and to point as Harry struggled against the hold that the four wizards had on him. It was perhaps fortunate that the surrounding muggles had had the sense to alert the authorities to what was going on.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he saw two uniformed officers heading in their direction, watching suspiciously as Harry struggled against the four men that were attempting to take him away.

-x

Steve had been riding around on his motorcycle, minus the shield of course because he didn't want to draw attention to himself, he thought it might be rather counter productive to finding Harry if he was swarmed by Avenger's fans. The bike was also faster than walking and he could cover more ground with it too, weaving in and out of the traffic, being careful to scan the crowd and not cause an accident.

He had been listening into the police scanner, just in case he could get any clues that way. If Harry was in any kind of trouble he thought that this was the first place to hear about it. There were NYPD officers all over the city, if something was happening one of them was likely to see something and report it on his radio.

As it happened, when something did come through on the scanner he was only three blocks away, a complete stroke of luck. He was able to turn his bike around, only just avoiding a collision with a rather grumpy yellow cab driver, and head straight there. He arrived just in time to see two police officers trying to defuse the situation but when Steve saw that Harry was in the very middle of this, being manhandled by four strangely dressed men he lost it.

Abandoning his bike on the side of the street in a slight panic, Steve strode towards the group that was causing the commotion, his fists clenched as he saw harry struggling to tear himself away from them. The first Avenger was looking utterly menacing as he literally tore Harry from the men who were still holding on to him. Harry himself looked relieved to see the larger man and slumped into his arms the moment they were a few steps away from the group.

"What happened?" Steve asked, looking down at Harry in concern, eyes scanning over him, searching for injuries. "Are you hurt?" he asked but Harry shook his head; he was a little shaken by what had happened but he wasn't hurt. He had not been expecting for people to recognize him here, he had been naive to think that his fame had not stretched this far. "Are they in league with Loki?" Steve asked in a whisper, glancing over to the four strangely dressed men suspiciously.

"No," Harry said shaking his head, his thoughts a jumbled mess. "They know me, from what I did in my world," he explained softly so that no one else could over hear. "What they wanted from me had nothing to do with Loki or the sphere."

"It didn't?" Steve asked looking a little surprised at this. Harry shook his head, glad that the wizards hadn't been that subtle, or had simply underestimated the muggles of the City. Either way he was back in Steve's arms, which he found was exactly where he wanted to be.

Steve frowned at Harry's failure to elaborate further but knowing that this wasn't the time or the place to go into it. He wasn't sure what had happened or how these strange men had known Harry but he wouldn't push for answers that Harry clearly wasn't ready to give him. He owed Harry that at least after lying to him, plus he hoped that Harry would come to trust him in time and simply be able to confide in him.

"Let's get you back," Steve said, giving the policemen a nod of thanks. No crime had been committed apart from some ruckus, grabbing a man was not a crime, nothing else could be proven, and therefore the four wizards would not be arrested. It was a shame really and Steve would have gladly beat each one to a bloody pulp but he restrained himself, though only just.

Harry, however, shook his head. "I need clothes," he explained when Steve looked at him questioningly; he wasn't going to let a few stupid wizards send him running for the hills. Besides, with the first Avenger with him now, he thought it was unlikely that anyone else would try anything. "It's why I left the tower, I was trying to find some clothes shops; I can't just keep wearing yours."

"We can't really carry much shopping on the back of the bike," Steve said as he motioned towards where he had abandoned his motor cycle.

"I have a few more tricks up my sleeve yet, Captain," Harry said with a small smile, still leaning quite heavily on the larger man.

"Oh, I bet you do," Steve said as they reached the bike and he threw one leg over it, settling himself into the seat. Harry, however, hesitated slightly. a little unsure of what to do, at least not without it ending up being rather intimate.

"I've never…" he began but Steve just smiled at him. Neither of them were paying any attention to the four wizards that were still being talked at by the two police officers. Not that they four men were listening, far too busy glaring at Harry and the mysterious man, who they were sure they recognized from somewhere.

"It's alright, just hold on to me and you'll be fine," Steve said as Harry, somewhat nervously, climbed on to the back of the bike, straddling Steve from behind as he did so. With a little uncertainly, Harry placed his hands on Steve's hips but the larger man wasn't having any of it, taking the other man's hands and joining them together in front of him so that Harry's arms were encircling his waist.

"Is this okay?" Harry asked nervously, painfully aware of his groin pressed close to the other man's rear.

Steve couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Sex on the first night we meet isn't a problem, yet any form of close intimacy and you're nervous?" he asked turning so he could almost see Harry's face, "You, Mr Potter, are an enigma."

"Well as long as I'm not boring," Harry said with slight amusement, resting his chin on Steve's shoulder and nuzzling into his neck. He didn't spare a moment to look back at the four men, he didn't want to think about them any more. That was part of his life he was more than happy to leave behind, his fame had always been more trouble than it was worth.

"I'm pretty sure that you could never be boring, Harry," Steve said as he started the engine and they were off, the smaller man clinging on for dear life. Broomsticks were one thing but motor cycles were something else altogether.

-x

It was clear that the two men had been researching for a while, they had remained in the meeting room on floor thirteen, not wanting to get distracted by anything. Numerous coffee mugs were littered across the table, all of them Tony's; Bruce stuck to earl grey tea with honey, not wanting the caffeine to aggravate his other side. He wanted to eliminate the chance of incidents if he could help it.

"I think Harry knows more about this than he's letting on," Bruce said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes in frustration.

Neither of them felt as if they were getting very far. They had all the information that S.H.I.E.L.D had acquired about the sphere but neither of the two genius' could find out much more about it. They couldn't figure out how it worked or how to get the power out once it had been duplicated and stored inside.

"He seems to have a lot of rules holding him back from wherever he's come from," Tony said as he flicked through some of the files for what felt like the hundredth time. By this point he had memorized it word for word but couldn't help but feel as if he was somehow missing something and therefore he kept going back to it.

"He is the only one of us who has seen the sphere, wherever he's from, whatever he is, he has the information we need or can at least gain access to it," Bruce said, he had clearly been thinking things over for a while now.

Unable to make ends or tails of the information both scientists were glad when Jarvis announced the return of Harry and Steve to Avenger's tower. There was no emergency call or suggestions for a doctor to be called so both Bruce and Tony took that to mean no one had been harmed or injured in anyway.

"We should go and see them," Tony suggested, thinking that Clint would most likely be heading in the direction of Steve and Harry to whisk the latter off to start his training as soon as possible. "I'd quite like to see him in action."

"I'd quite like to see Clint trying to convince Harry to turn his hair back," Bruce said with amusement. He too was curious about the young man's abilities and he was keen to watch him fight but he could also see the enjoyment factor to watching the two stubborn men duel it out over hair dye.

-x

Harry, with his shopping shrunk down and in his pocket, and Steve headed straight up to the communal kitchen, dining area; they had been so busy shopping that they had failed to grab anything to eat. They had both skipped breakfast that morning and as a result the two of them were famished.

However their plans of getting food were put on hold when the moment they stepped out of the lift they were ambushed by the rest of the Avenger's who had all been notified by Jarvis of their return. Such a mass of voices accosted them that neither of them could make out what was being said or by whom.

Harry had already asked Steve not to say anything about the four men that had tried to take him. After all the bolstering that he could take care of himself, Harry really didn't want Clint or Natasha, or in fact any of them, to think less of him.

"Harry, come with me, we're going to start your training," Clint said bluntly when the rest of the noise had died down.

"Can't I eat first?" Harry asked with a tired sigh. He didn't want to get into the habit of skipping meals too frequently. Because of what the Dursley's had done he had never been a big eater, food was more of an inconvenience that he had to put his life on hold for, however he knew that he needed it to be strong.

"We both skipped breakfast this morning," Steve chimed in when it appeared that Clint might deny Harry this request. Steve was feeling rather protective of the young man, especially after what had happened earlier, and he wasn't going to see him go without food, especially not before one of Clint's rigorous training sessions. He had trained with the archer before and Clint certainly liked to push himself, for hours at a time, without rest. Harry would need to eat before they started.

"Fine," Clint said unhappily and watched as Harry and Steve moved to the kitchen area and began to make some kind of pasta dish together. Tony and Bruce settled themselves at the stools at the counter, watching the two of them closely. Natasha sat at the dining table, Clint standing beside her, arms folded over his chest looking disapproving.

One thing was sure and that was that Harry knew his way around the kitchen. He seemed very natural as he helped prepare some chicken and throw it into a pan to cook while Steve made a cheese sauce. The two of them moved fluidly around the kitchen, rarely making contact, just simply working together silently, speaking only to pass things to one another.

"It's like something from the fucking Walton's," Clint said, sharing a small window into his life before he had come to be an Avenger. He rarely shared anything about his life and this slip of the tongue gave a rare insight that none of them, not even Natasha, had experienced before.

None of them passed comment about this, not wanting to make a big deal out of something that had passed so easily between them. Not even Tony took the rare opportunity to tease Clint about it, whereas in any other circumstances he might have done.

"You guys hungry?" Harry asked the gathered group, "We made enough for everyone."

"Where did you learn to cook?" Bruce asked as everyone nodded, the smell of the food making them all feel rather hungry. Steve went to fetch the bowls and cutlery to place them on the table while Harry mixed the sauce, chicken and pasta together in a large dish ready to be served.

"My Aunt and Uncle forced me to learn," Harry said softly. His tone wasn't saddened or withdrawn at all, despite what they had done to him it had been something that Harry had come to accept over the years, he had forgiven them and moved on with his life. He was not the eleven year old boy they beat and abused any more. He was now a celebrated war hero, broken beyond anything that the Dursley's could have done to him.

"I thought you said you didn't have any family," Clint said, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I don't," Harry said simply, as, with a wave of his hand and a muttered incantation, the bowls Steve was carrying flew out of his hands and landed neatly on the table, cutlery perfectly placed beside them for each avenger to sit. Glasses, a jug of iced water from the fridge and the bowl of pasta also landed neatly on the table after a little magical assistance from Harry, who also set the dirty dishes to start washing themselves. This was all much to the amazement of Bruce, who was watching, open mouthed in awe.

"But you just said…" Clint tried to say but was swiftly cut off by a glare from Steve that clearly said not to got here. They were all curious about Harry but he would open up when he was ready to do so. It wasn't as if they all knew everything there was to know about each other.

"Let's just eat," Steve suggested, moving to sit down as Bruce and Tony did the same, "then you can catch us up on what happened while we were gone." Clint was the last one to take a seat with the rest of them, waiting for Harry to settle himself in the seat next to Steve before sitting on Natasha's other side. He wasn't going to be able to trust Harry easily but he was rather looking forward to putting the young man through his paces in training and seeing just what he was capable of.

"Is Thor not joining us?" Harry asked as the others started to serve themselves, watching as Clint tucked into the meal with gusto, feeling rather smug that the archer liked his cooking even if he disliked everything else about him.

"He's gone to back to Asgard," Bruce explained as he was passed the large bowl of pasta and began to serve himself, "to see what he can find out about the sphere."

"Have you had any luck on that front?" Harry asked, looking around as those that had helped themselves began to eat. He felt a little guilty for leaving when everyone else had clearly been working, however he had needed to cool down a little. Also it wasn't as if he hadn't achieved anything, he had at least got some clothes that were just his and he and Steve had had a chance to talk.

The two of them had cleared the air, Harry could understand what it was that Steve had done and why, he didn't begrudge him especially for lying considering just how much he was hiding from Steve about what he was and where he had come from. They had both come to conclusion that they wanted to try with whatever they had and make things work.

"We were hoping that you might be able to help with that," Bruce said honestly, "After all you are the only one of us who has seen this sphere, we were hoping we might be able to examine it."

Harry look dubious, not thinking that it was a great idea to take the sphere out of the Ministry. He also didn't think that it was a great idea to take Bruce, or in fact any of the Avengers, into the Ministry either. He was going to have to talk to Kingsley sooner rather than later it seemed. "We'll see," he said, wondering if Fury would be able to get the Minister for Magic here without raising too many questions with the others.

* * *

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	7. Proving himself

The Affliction of War

Chapter Seven - Proving himself

All the Avengers, bar Thor of course as he had left to talk to Jane and see what he could find out on Asgard, had gathered on level fifty-five of Avengers tower, where there was the Hulk-proof training room that Tony had installed for them all to use. He had wanted Bruce to feel comfortable to transform, knowing that he couldn't cause any lasting damage the building he was in without feeling too contained. Just below them on level fifty-four was the simulation room, which had also been made Hulk proof; however, before Clint put Harry in that, he wanted to see what the young man could do.

After they had finished lunch Harry had gone to Steve's room's to put his new clothes away and change into some of them, thinking that if he was going to be put through his paces in training then he needed something that would fit him properly and was his. Not that he minded wearing Steve's clothes but he needed to feel as if he was here of his own fruition and not just as Captain America's plaything.

Originally he had thought that it might be best to just remain in the guest suite but Steve had been insistent that Harry stay with him. Steve knew how much the other man hated to be alone and he could relate to this, in that way they had both agreed that they could assist each other. It might have been rather early in their relationship but sleeping in the same bed seemed to be the right step to take for them. It wasn't like they spent a lot of time in their personal quarters anyway.

Harry was now eager to get started, he was desperate to prove himself to his fellow team members. He'd been here one day and hadn't made much of an impression as of yet; well, he had, but only on Steve. His arrival here might not have been what everyone wanted but he was going to show them that he didn't need to depend on them to protect him. He was going to show them that he could be a valuable member of the team.

It was rather refreshing for Harry, seeing as he had spent his life having the majority of people just assuming that he could do whatever it was he had to do and required no proof that he could. Since he was eleven this had been the case; so to finally have someone demand that he prove himself able to do the job he had come here to do was filling Harry with excited anticipation.

"I'm warning you, I'm not going easy on you," Clint warned as he stretched out, flexing his impressive muscles, preparing himself for what was to come. He honestly didn't think that Harry was going to be able to take him in a fight, he was fairly confident in his abilities and the fact that he was going to be stronger. Harry's extra abilities were nothing but small, though admittedly impressive, party tricks; when it came down to it, Clint was sure that Harry would amount to nothing.

"I wouldn't expect you to, Sonic," Harry said with a smile as he too stretched out. He had been trained by Kingsley Shacklebolt himself; as an Auror he needed to be well versed in all methods of fighting, both muggle and magical. Hand to hand combat was essential because when all else was lost when on the verge of losing everything the bad guys tended to resort to muggle brawling in a ditch attempt to escape incarceration in Azkaban.

Harry had mastered the art of combining his magic with muggle fighting techniques. Perhaps the only thing that he couldn't use were guns, they tended to act rather badly when magic got involved, though no one could figure out exactly why. Something about the way they were made and their purpose meant that the combination of guns and magic tended to end catastrophically.

"I'm going to propose something to you," Clint said, his tone one of deadly seriousness. Harry, however, was in a good mood and knowing that he had an audience, he was going to play to it a little.

"Sorry, Sonic, I just don't feel that way about you, though it was a sweet thought," Harry said with a wink and he heard Tony snort in amusement. Harry didn't need to look at the others to know that Tony and Bruce would be smiling in amusement; Steve simply stood with his arms crossed, watching them intently, trying not to be amused by Harry's cheek.

"You and me, hand to hand," Clint said, ignoring Harry's response, not realising that he was just giving Harry more ammunition to fuel his fire.

"Again, sounding a little too sexual for me. I think you need to get laid, Sonic," Harry said, smiling broadly at the archer who was looking less and less amused with each sexual innuendo Harry spouted.

"If I win you turn my hair back," Clint pressed on, trying his very best not to rise to the bait that Harry was presenting. He knew what the other man was doing and he had to try his very best not to react because otherwise he wasn't going to win and get his normal hair colour back.

"And what do I get when I win?" Harry asked confidently. He knew that Clint was no match for him, if it was simply hand to hand then Clint would have won without question but none of the Avenger's knew what he could do with his magic. With this advantage, Harry was confident that he was going to win.

"My respect," Clint said, knowing for a fact that Harry was never going to win against him. The young man had a few party tricks, nothing more and he was going to put Harry down a peg or two while getting his regular hair back. Promising respect if Harry actually won was nothing because he truly would respect him if he could do it.

Harry looked pensive for a moment, thinking things over, wanting to make sure that it was a fair trade, just in case he did lose, which he didn't think was very likely. "Alright," he concluded with a wide smile on his face. "But if I win then you have to keep the hair that colour for the next year."

"Deal," Clint said, but he was already moving, lunging towards Harry in a hope to catch the other man off guard. Harry instinctively swung out a leg in his direction but Clint just ducked, pressed his hands to the floor and push himself off in a different direction, easily avoiding the smaller man's attack.

"You're fast," Harry said as the two of them began to circle one another. "Are you that fast in bed too?" he asked as Clint made another move, stepping forward and bringing his leg up, aiming to kick Harry in the side.

Harry was expecting it though, and caught Clint's leg, twisting it and pushing him away, forcing Clint to the floor. Hawkeye rolled, regaining himself fairly quickly, annoyed that none of his blows had landed yet. Harry was using his smaller size as an advantage, he knew that if it came to brute strength then Clint was going to win; however, being smaller had its benefits. Harry was faster and could move with more fluidity than Clint could manage and he had learnt how to use this to his advantage.

Still on the floor, Clint swung his leg round in an attempt to trip Harry, but the smaller man saw it coming and jumped to avoid it. "Come on, you can do better than that," Harry said, mocking the larger man. Clint had gone past talking at this point though, far too annoyed that the smaller man was getting the better of him. He really wanted his hair back to it's original colour.

Hawkeye, taking the split second where Harry had just landed from his jump to pounce, wrapped his arms around Harry's smaller waist, the two of them face to face. His aim had been to pick the smaller man up and throw him to the ground, but Harry was ready for him. With a momentarily smug expression, and a muttered incantation to make it a little easier, Harry wrapped his arms around Clint's upper body and threw them both backwards.

Harry landed on this back, but had managed to throw Clint over his head, using his legs as leverage underneath the larger man so that Clint was on the ground as well, the levitation charm that Harry had used giving the wizard full control over the larger man's body. Clint had not been expecting this and fallen hard on his back, actually finding himself a little winded by the sudden impact.

Taking advantage of Hawkeye's momentary hesitation, Harry flipped himself back over the top of Clint, so that he was straddling the larger man. "Give up?" Harry asked, breathing heavily, but, despite his exhaustion, he had determination in his eyes that told Clint that he had a lot of fight left in him.

"Not a chance," Clint growled, bucking his hips and throwing Harry from him. The smaller man rolled nimbly around to land on all fours and focused on Clint, who was also crouched upon the ground, biding his time until he decided on, and found the perfect moment for, his next move.

"He's flexible and strong," Tony said sounding actually impressed. "I can see how he won you over, Cap," he added with a wink in Steve's direction. There was no mistaking the salacious expression that was on the billionaire's face, and Steve just shot him an annoyed look before going back to watching the fight, where Harry and Clint were both focused entirely on each other.

They both moved at the same time, both of them jumping to their feet and charging. Harry, at the last minute, skidded to the floor, spinning himself and using his legs to trip Clint, sending the larger man to the floor. Clint, however, flipped himself around, landing a kick to Harry's ribs with his foot before either of them could get to their feet.

Harry let out a grunt at the unexpected blow, but rolled himself so that he was out of reach of Clint's feet, trying to push himself up but feeling a little winded. Clint was already on his feet, waiting for Harry by the time the small man managed to right himself. The archer was grinning smugly but Harry wasn't going to let the other man get away that easily.

"Colloshoo," Harry muttered, as he came forward, adhering Clint's shoes to the ground. The archer looked momentarily confused when he suddenly couldn't move his feet at all but when Harry landed the first blow to his jaw he brought up his arms and began to block Harry's attacks, landing his own that Harry attempted to block in turn. Harry wasn't sure how he had managed it but Clint's nose was now spurting blood and looked to be broken.

Breaking the spell on Clint's shoes with a whispered finite incantatem, Harry then muttered, "everte statum," throwing his hands out towards Clint, throwing him backwards as if he had been round house kicked in the stomach by Thor. Hawkeye flew backwards and collided with the far wall. The archer fell forward, landing on his front with a low, pained groan.

It was Harry's turn to look smug as Clint dragged himself back to his feet, actually having to use the wall for support a little. "Not sure what that was, but it wasn't hand-to-hand," Clint grumbled, glaring at the smaller man.

"I used my hands, they just didn't touch you," Harry returned with a shrug. He felt hugely accomplished with the fact that he had managed to win a fight against Clint, not that Clint wanted for the fight to be over; the archer was staggering back to the middle of the room, a little worse for wear but seemingly wanting to keep going.

"Enough," Steve said when Clint went to charge Harry again. "Clint you're bleeding, badly, you need to get that fixed before you do anything else. Harry's won, just stop." Captain America came to stand between the two of them looking stern, thinking that if, given the choice, the two of them were stubborn enough to keep at it for the rest of the day. It didn't seem to matter how badly they got hurt, neither of them were going to admit defeat.

"I can fix that," Harry said to Clint, motioning to his nose. "I honestly never meant to hit you that hard, sorry."

"You're apologising?" Clint asked in amazement, it wasn't something that he had been expecting from the smaller man; if anything, he had expected for Harry to be a little smug about the fact that he had broken his nose, not for him to be apologetic.

"Yes," Harry said softly. "My intent was not to do you any serious damage, I was holding back so that I didn't," he explained with a sigh as he stepped around Steve to examine Clint's nose, the others looking at him with wide, amazed eyes. "This might sting a little," he warned and Clint nodded his understanding. "Episkey," he said and with a crack the nose repaired itself.

"Wow," Tony said with a low whistle, as Clint reached up to confirm that his nose really was no longer broken, "now that was impressive."

"You were holding back?" Steve asked, ignoring Tony completely, he was far too focused on the fact that Harry had been holding back in the fight. Hand to hand skills that Harry had demonstrated were astounding for his size, the fact that he hadn't been fighting his best was beyond comprehension and also, to Clint, a little insulting.

Harry nodded, looking a little sad. "I can overwhelm your entire body with unimaginable pain with a single word, kill you with two," he explained, knowing he was stretching the limits of the statute of secrecy, but wanting them to really understand his strength. "Where I come from, if there is enough power and emotion behind the words when they're spoken then it's possible."

Kingsley had explained that the Avengers were somewhat used to the extraordinary. Magic wasn't something that would shock them after everything they had seen and Kingsley had explained that Fury already knew everything about the wizarding world. The Avenger's might not have known all the details but they weren't exactly normal muggles. If Kingsley hadn't wanted him to use his magic, he wouldn't have given him the bracelets.

"I don't believe you," Clint said, "one word can't cause unimaginable pain." He didn't care how impressed he was with what Harry had just done, he didn't believe that what Harry had said was possible. Death was not possible by simply uttering two words, regardless how much power and emotion was behind those words.

"If you're willing I can show you," Harry said meeting Clint's eyes with a slight sadness, not wanting to do it but needing to show them what he was capable of. However, he wouldn't do it if Clint wasn't willing, he never wanted to maliciously inflict that kind of pain on anyone again. "But it will hurt beyond anything you have felt before, like fire encompassing your entire body, burning you inside and out; it is far from pleasant, Clint, I need you to understand that before I do it."

"Bullshit," Clint said with a snort of disbelief. "Prove it."

Harry sighed; he hadn't wanted to do this, had been hoping that Clint wouldn't ask him to, but he needed to show them that he wasn't weak or a liar. If this is what it would take to show them that, then he was going to do it. He was far too used to gathering up the anger and hatred required to cast the cruciatus curse but that didn't mean he liked to do it.

"Prepare yourself," Harry warned, "this is going to hurt." Everyone was watching with anticipation as Harry pushed Steve backwards so that he wouldn't get in the way or accidently get hurt. This wasn't a side of him, Harry wanted Steve to see but he was so desperate to prove himself to them all that he was willing to do almost anything. "Crucio," Harry said, his voice barely a whisper, holding his hand out towards Clint.

The moment that the words had left Harry's lips, Clint's body seized up, falling to the floor, twitching and convulsing, a scream tearing from his throat like nothing any of them had heard before. Harry lifted the curse as quickly as he could, just a second later and the scream died but Clint remained on the ground, breathing heavy, muscles twitching. There were tears in Harry's eyes as he turned away from what he had done, unable to look at Clint as he recovered from the spell.

As Harry turned away he found himself face to face with Steve, who encircled his arms around the smaller man and held him. Captain America watched on as Natasha went to see if Clint was alright. Tony and Bruce stood back, looking at Harry with a combination of awe and fear.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked as he watched Natasha help Clint sit up. Hawkeye's legs were still a little wobbly so he wasn't about to risk getting to his feet just yet, it was a miracle that he had managed to sit up at all.

"Well he wasn't kidding," Clint said firmly, "or exaggerating. Find a chance to use that on Loki and I'll consider us even," he added, looking passed the rest of them to where Harry was standing, being held close to Steve.

"The fact that you want me to do that shows just how much you must hate him," Harry said sadly. He hated using that curse, Clint had only been under it for a few seconds and yet he seemed desperate for it to be inflicted on another. "I remember how agonising it was, I thought that it would never end, if felt like hours until the pain stopped."

"Someone cast that on you?" Steve asked, horrified. Harry hadn't had much of a chance to elaborate on his past and it seemed that there was a lot that he simply couldn't tell them because of the laws in whatever world he came from. However, this brief glimpse into what Harry had been through was shocking enough and Steve had a feeling that that wasn't the worst of it either.

"Yes, a few times… it doesn't affect me any more though," Harry said with a shrug, finding it rather painful just to talk about this. Ever since he had died in the forbidden forest and come back when he was seventeen, none of the unforgivables had worked on him. Granted he hadn't been hit with the killing curse again but Harry really wasn't keen to test the theory.

"Why doesn't it affect you any more?" Bruce asked curiously. He wanted to know more about the extraordinary young man because it seemed that he was rather unique, even by his world's standards.

"Because I died," Harry said with a shrug. "I told you, I'm very… special where I come from, I'm their chosen one, their saviour and Merlin, I wish they didn't call me either of those things but they do. I can take care of myself, don't doubt that."

"I don't think any of us are going to doubt that again after today," Tony said, smiling at the young man. He was truly impressed with what he had seen from Harry today and he was in no doubt that Harry really did belong as one of them.

"I think that that is enough training for one day," Steve said decisively to the group before turning to Harry. "Can we talk?" he asked, and Harry just nodded his head and allowed for Steve to lead him towards the lift, one large muscled arm still holding him close.

-x

"Are we not going to your room?" Harry asked when he and Steve got into the lift and the larger man pressed the button for the fortieth floor. Harry had kind of been hoping that they would be going to Steve's room for some privacy; Harry's blood was already pumping, the adrenaline coursing through his veins making him really horny, and he needed to get it out of his system.

"No, I think, after that, you need to relax a little," Steve said, enjoying the fact that Harry was still leaning heavily on him. He was rather liking the sensitive side of Harry that he was seeing after the intense training session. Steve was thinking that, despite everything, it had been a good thing that it had happened the way that it had. Clint and Natasha would hopefully be able to accept Harry now and they would be able to work together to ensure Loki didn't get the sphere rather than constantly challenging one another.

"What did you have in mind, Captain?" Harry asked, turning to look up at Steve as the lift descended to the floor that had been selected. Harry was still a little unsure of what was on what floor so he had no idea what was in store for him.

"Slightly less clothes," Steve whispered softly, leaning his head down and capturing Harry's lips in a sweet kiss as the lift came to a stop and the doors slid open and the unmistakable smell of chlorine hit them.

"Hmm, slightly less clothes and a swimming pool, this sounds like a pretty good way to relax to me," Harry said with a smile as their kiss broke.

"There's a hot tub and a sauna too," Steve told him, "so I was thinking we could both relax a little while we talk. I really like being close to you, Harry." Steve picked Harry up by the waist with one arm and carried him from the lift and towards the changing rooms.

"I like being close to you too, really close," Harry said, his chest pressed against Steve's, his feet barely touching the ground. He was feeling a little breathless as Steve instructed Jarvis to seal off the floor, allowing them complete privacy.

"Clothes off," Steve instructed as he placed Harry back on his own two feet. The changing room was a little up-market compared to what most people would expect, with cushioned benches, heated floors and showers large enough for four. Not to mention the large array of products laid out on the countertops.

"I like it when you take charge," Harry whispered seductively as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it to the floor. "Though I kind of miss the twenty questions just to get rid of our clothes."

"Then ask me a question," Steve said as his hand ran up Harry's exposed chest, tracing over the scars that he found there, ghosting over them, wondering how each one had come to be there, wishing that he had the patience to ask and to hear the answer. However, he didn't, not this afternoon, he was already growing hard with the thoughts of what they were about to do, again it would have to wait for another time.

"Why did you come after me today?" Harry asked, tugging at Steve's white t-shirt. The larger man was a huge fan of white tops and beige trousers it seemed and the look suited him. Though Harry had to admit that he was rather looking forward to seeing him in uniform.

"Because I didn't want you to get hurt," Steve admitted, hand reaching up to cup Harry's cheek, forehead resting upon Harry's. He had to gather his courage for the question he wanted to ask, he needed to know this but equally he didn't want to scare Harry away. "Do you truly want me or is this just… fun?"

"Steve…" Harry began, they had talked earlier this morning during their shopping trip, they had both decided that they wanted to try to make a relationship work but clearly Steve was a little insecure about it. He knew that Harry hadn't been in a relationship since he was much younger and it concerned him that Harry might want nothing more than sex and a non committed relationship, or that he simply wasn't ready for anything more serious. It wasn't something that Steve could give him if that was the case.

"Please, answer the question, Harry," Steve pleaded with him, closing his eyes as he feared what the answer might be. If Harry couldn't promise himself entirely to him and the relationship then it wasn't going to last another night between them. Steve couldn't explain it but his entire body wanted Harry, his mind screamed to be near him and protect him, he never wanted to be parted from him, which was all completely insane considering they'd only known each other since the day before.

"I want this," Harry said truthfully. "I want you," he continued, speaking slowly and carefully, "I want it all with you," he finished smashing his lips to Steve's. In truth Harry wasn't sure what he wanted but he knew he wanted Steve and he didn't want it to just be a brief fling, in that sense he wasn't lying at least. However, Harry knew that he wouldn't stay in America forever, there was too much back home for him to stay here, but that wasn't something they needed to talk about now.

Steve pulled his t-shirt up and over his head, throwing it away from them before kissing Harry again. Hands roamed over bare chests, exploring and stroking, each taking a moment to tease at each others nipples, both men growing hard.

"Why are you so protective of me?" Harry asked sudden. "I saw the look in your eyes when those men were touching me, as if you might rip their heads off…" He truly wanted to know why it was that Steve wanted to protect him so badly. He wasn't used to being protected, it was why it had jared on him so much when he had realised that Kingsley, who was supposed to be his friend, had sent him away to keep him safe.

"I don't know," Steve said truthfully; the more he thought about it the less he could explain it. He honestly couldn't say why he felt this way about the smaller man. "I'm not usually like this but you seem to bring it out in me."

"Are you just following orders, Steve?" Harry asked, needing to know the answer to this. It would devastate him to know that the intensity between them was all because Steve was a soldier just following orders; he felt as though it would destroy him completely if that was the case.

"No, this has nothing to do with Fury or the orders that he gave me," Steve said with certainty. He knew that Fury was going to be his first stop tomorrow though because he had a suspicion that what he was feeling had something to do with the serum because it definitely wasn't normal. Not everyone would care this deeply for another person after such a short space of time.

Everyone else who had taken the serum had had their minds messed with, their perceptions of the world altered in some way. So far it had all been good things for Steve but perhaps it was the serum affecting his hormones and his emotions, making everything seem magnified in a way. It was something Steve needed to know but not now, it wasn't as important as being with Harry in this moment, a moment that he wanted to treasure.

"Do you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you right now?" Steve asked, thinking that every other question he wanted to ask was just too serious. He didn't want to ruin the mood between them now, they were too close, too intimate, he didn't want to risk anything that would destroy that, he just wanted to feel Harry writhe and squirm beneath him as he took him.

"Yes," Harry said breathlessly. "But first, let's get rid of these," he added, popping open the button on Steve's trousers and pushing them down a little. Steve, however, caught his hands before Harry could push them down much further.

"Slow," Steve said. "I want to savor this," he added, threading his fingers so that they linked perfectly with Harry's, kissing him for all he was worth. After the wonderful treat Harry had given him that morning in the form of a blowjob that had made them late for the briefing, Steve wanted to return the favour, though he was extremely nervous considering he had never done it before.

"You don't have to savour it, I'm not going anywhere," Harry said, worried that Steve thought he might vanish at any moment. He didn't want for the older man to think that, he truly wasn't going anywhere, at least not yet.

"I want to savour you, Harry, every moment, every touch, every kiss," Steve said, placing chaste kisses upon Harry's lips every few words, releasing Harry's hands to hold him close. The larger man reaching between them and pushing down Harry's trousers, rather pleased that they had the elastic waistband.

"Then savour me," Harry said, his breath hitching in his throat a little. Steve began to kiss and nibble at Harry's neck, working his way down the smaller man's chest, eventually falling to his knees, tongue and teeth scraping over firm abs as he played with the waistband of Harry's boxers until after a few moments of teasing he pushed them down.

Steve wasted little time, his tongue grazing over the tip of Harry's cock. The smaller man closed his eyes as sensations of pure pleasure washed over him, one hand gripping Steve's shoulder, the other intertwining into his blond hair, trying not to tug too hard.

Still a little nervous and spurred on only by the reactions that he was getting from Harry, Steve took the erection into his mouth fully, withdrawing only slightly before taking the whole thing once more. All the while, Harry moaned in ecstasy, a heat building in the pit of his stomach with somewhat alarming speed. When he almost couldn't take anymore and he was on the verge of toppling over the edge, Steve pulled away, getting back to his feet.

Quickly ridding himself of his own trousers and underwear, Steve scooped Harry up into his arms and headed for the showers, pressing several buttons until all four shower heads were on and running pleasantly warm water. On the way he had grabbed a bottle of lotion from the counter, the lube they had bought while shopping earlier in the day up in their bedroom.

"I won't last much longer," Harry whined as Steve turned him to face the wall. The smaller man had to brace himself against the tiled surface as he heard the other man squirt some of the lotion onto his fingers.

"You can come more than once," Steve said softly as his hand ventured between firm globes, looking for Harry's entrance, wanting to feel the tight, hot heat, to prepare the smaller man so that he would be ready to take him.

"Merlin," Harry gasped as he felt a single slick finger slide inside of him. Steve's body encompassed him as the older man pushed the single digit in and out, twirling it around inside of him. Steve was growing in confidence the more Harry moaned and writhed, sliding in a second finger as he nibbled and sucked in the crook of Harry's neck.

It might not have done much to Harry normally, but he was still so close to the edge from having had Steve's lips around his erection, and he had meant it when he had said he wouldn't last much longer. His breath was coming in harsh pants and when Steve reached around him and took his cock in hand, it took only seconds before he was splattering his come all over the bathroom tiles.

Steve, however, didn't stop, continuing to stoke leisurely at Harry's cock, refusing to let it go soft, adding a third finger inside of Harry, fully stretching him out. Harry was lost to a sea of pleasure, everything had become a little blurred as he rode out his orgasm, Steve's thumb grazing across the sensitive tip of his erection.

"Please," Harry begged, being utterly overwhelmed by the pleasurable, bordering on painful, sensations coursing through him. "Please," he said again, pleading with Steve for more but unable to get the words out to tell him exactly what he wanted.

Steve was rather enjoying watching Harry come undone in his arms as he moved his fingers inside of him; he had given the younger man such a beautiful love bite that he was feeling rather pleased with himself. He was confident that he could easily make Harry come twice more at least before he neared his own completion, the serum giving him above average stamina. His first time he had been overwhelmed by new feelings and new sensations but this time he was going to make it last.

Harry was almost completely boneless his embrace and it gave Steve such a sense of power and accomplishment, he didn't want it to ever end, though he knew that it had to and so knowing that there was much more to come he removed all three fingers from inside of the other man. Turning Harry around so that the smaller man now had his back pressed against the tiles, Steve smashed their lips together, claiming them in a passionate kiss. His hands gripping Harry's hips and lifting him up, the dark haired man wrapping his legs around the larger man's waist obligingly.

Harry could feel Steve's erection pressing against his entrance; however, Steve held him still, making no move to impale him on it. Harry whined a little into the kiss, rocking his hips so that the tight ring of muscle grazed across the head of Steve's cock, causing the larger man to groan in appreciation. Steve had meant it when he had said he wanted to savour this; he needed to make sure that Harry was ready for him and the lotion that they had been using for lube had been dropped so they had no hope of finding it now. They were going to have to take this slow.

"Steve," Harry pleaded, his voice no more than a whisper that ghosted across their lips; he needed this, if he didn't get what he wanted he was certain that he was going to explode, "please."

With this last plea, Steve finally obliged, pushing himself a little way into Harry, being careful not to hurt him. The head of his erection now embedded into the other man, he paused, withdrawing until he was all the way out before pushing himself in again. He did this twice more, until Harry threw his head back against the tile with a crack, unable to handle the intensity. Though it didn't seem to hurt at all, not judging by the wanton moans still escaping from Harry's lips.

Knowing that he had succeeded in driving Harry wild to the point of screaming in frustration and content that the smaller man was prepared enough to accept him completely, Steve, without warning, pushed himself all the way in.

The burn was intense considering the only lube they had to ease the friction between them was the water cascading down on them from the shower. There had been some lotion coating Harry's entrance from when Steve had prepared him but it hadn't been much. Harry had to bite on his bottom lip to stop himself from crying out.

Steve didn't move, holding himself still inside of Harry, giving him a moment to adjust to the large erection inside of him. It wasn't until the smaller man began to rock his hips, desperate for movement, that Steve pulled himself out a little to push himself back in, brushing against the sensitive bundle of nerves inside of Harry.

Wrapping his arms across Harry's back, Steve drew him closer, pressing their lips together, wanting to distract him from the bite of pain that he was no doubt experiencing. Witnessing Harry in the throes of passion in this way made Steve want to try being on the receiving end, just to experience what Harry was feeling.

Pinned against the tiled shower wall, with Steve rocking into him, Harry was entirely lost to pleasure. His hands roaming into Steve's hair, nails digging into the soft flesh of the larger man's back. Steve was getting off on the slight sting of pain as the smaller man fisted his hair and clawed softly at his back.

Steve reached between them, gripping at Harry's erection, wanting to make him orgasm one more time as he could feel himself nearing his own end. There was a heat building in the pit of his stomach and Harry was so hot and tight around him that he could literally feel himself coming undone as he pushed himself deeper into his lover with each thrust.

"I can't," Harry gasped out as Steve gripped his overly sensitive cock, not believing that he could orgasm twice in such quick succession. Being wrapped around Steve, feeling the other man as he moved inside of him, everything about it, it just felt right.

"Yes you can," Steve said, speeding up his thrusts as well as the motion of his wrist. He could feel how close Harry was and knew his own orgasm was going to be unavoidable shortly, but he wanted to bring Harry over the edge before he came.

Harry's orgasm hit him like a herd of rampaging hippogriffs, it came so suddenly that he couldn't stop himself from screaming. His erection erupted with a pearly white substance, splattering his and Steve's chest with it. The larger of the two men, however, continued, his thrusts so fast that it was almost inhuman and if Harry had had the brain capacity to think about it he might have concluded that that made a little bit of sense.

The feeling of the smaller man tightening and convulsing around him sent Steve over the edge. He roared out his release, every muscle in his body tensing and convulsing as he came, emptying himself into Harry's willing body.

-x

The new couple fell into bed later that evening, exhausted from their late afternoon spent in the swimming pool, hot tub and sauna where they had violated every room that they had found. They had both had several more orgasms, having spent many an hour simply worshiping each other. Now that they were finally curled up in bed with one another, sex was the furthest thing from their minds. They had both had enough to last them… at least until the following day.

"Harry," Steve murmured sleepily, stroking at his raven hair softly, running it through his fingers affectionately.

"Hmm," Harry hummed back, snuggling into the hold that the larger had around him. Both of them were completely naked, though neither of them were hard. It felt as if it might be physically impossible for them to get hard again right now; they were both utterly exhausted.

"You won't run off again, will you?" Steve asked, placing a sweet kiss to the top of Harry's head and inhaling the sweet scent of the younger man's hair.

"I'm not going anywhere, Cap," Harry whispered sleepily, placing soft kisses to Steve's chest, one arm resting across the older man's stomach as he used his chest as a pillow, "far too sleepy."

"You know what I mean, Harry," Steve said with amused exasperation. He was loving having Harry snuggled up against him, half asleep and acting all cute.

"Why would I go anywhere," Harry asked, turning his head to look up at Steve, smiling at him, his eyes heavy, his mind trying to drag him into sleep. He wasn't really thinking about what he was saying anymore, he was just enjoying the moment.

"I don't know, but you did earlier," Steve pointed out. "And while I am quite certain you could have taken care of yourself, you were only out there for an hour or so before you found trouble."

"Trouble always finds me," Harry said, stifling a yawn as his fingers traced lazy patterns across the defined chest, marvelling at how smooth and soft his skin was to the touch.

"Not if I can help it," Steve said, placing another kiss to the top of Harry's head. The way that Harry spoke sometimes was truly heart wrenching. He could hear the hollow despair as Harry admitted that trouble always seemed to find him; it made Steve sad to think of how much the younger man must have been through. He was desperate to know more, but wanted for Harry to choose to tell him, to open up to him once more.

"I hope you can help it," Harry said, his words coming out jumbled and a little messed up as his brain began to shut down, needing to sleep after the day he had had. "I never cared much before but you've given me a reason to." Harry truly didn't know what he was saying any more, too tired for his mind to process much at all.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, taking full advantage of how open and vulnerable Harry was when he was this sleepy. He was reluctant to outwardly ask but he wasn't against coaxing the other man into talking to him.

"I thought that this would be my last mission and now I hope that it is for an entirely different reason," Harry mumbled, nuzzling affectionately into Steve's side, his eyes closed, the patterns his fingers were tracing becoming lighter and less frequent.

"Last mission? Why would this have been your last?" Steve asked him gently, still stroking at Harry's raven hair, holding him close, loving how being this close to him felt.

"Because before I came here," Harry told him, struggling to find the words through this lethargy, "I was struggling to remember... remember what I was living for," he said through a yawn.

"And you remember now?" Steve asked, unable to help the concern he felt. He had had dark times, but the way that Harry was speaking scared him.

Unable to hold back another yawn, it took Harry a moment to reply. "I'm starting to remember because of you," he finally said with a contented sigh, his eyes drifting closed.

"But you never intended to go back after this mission?" Steve asked, almost hopefully. He didn't want to think of Harry leaving, going back to Britain.

"I just wasn't worried about whether or not I would make it back," Harry said with a shrug. "Now I am definitely leaning towards wanting to get out of this in one piece."

There were no more words. Steve simply tightened his hold around the smaller man, holding him close, finally realising just how broken and messed up Harry was. If there was one thing that he could do for Harry then he wanted to give him a reason to survive, to come out of this in one piece. He was going to make sure that Harry remembered. The Affliction of War

* * *

><p>Don't forget to leave a lovely comment and let me know what you think!<p> 


	8. Casanova

The Affliction of War

Chapter Eight - Casanova

Steve woke up alone the next morning, after the afternoon they'd spent together, he hadn't been expecting this. He had wanted to wake up with his lover in his arms but this was sadly not the case. When he investigated further he found the shower had been used, though there was still no sign of Harry.

Quickly getting himself dressed, Steve ventured up to the communal floor. The moment that the lift doors opened his nostrils were assaulted with the pleasant scent of freshly brewed coffee and pancakes. He easily spotted Harry in the kitchen, flipping pancakes over the stove effortlessly, bacon under the grill, sizzling pleasantly. Tony and Bruce were sat on stools at the breakfast bar watching and talking to him as he cooked. Tony had his usual giant mug of coffee, Bruce with his earl grey with honey, both looking rather happy that breakfast was being prepared for them.

"Morning," Steve said, moving around the breakfast bar and joining Harry in the kitchen, wrapping a single arm around his waist and drawing him into a brief but passionate kiss before allowing him to return to his cooking. Steve then moved to the fridge, grabbing himself a bottle of water, positioning himself so that he could watch his lover in action.

"Well aren't you two the picture of domestic bliss," Bruce said in amusement as Harry slid a pancake on to his plate. It was rare that he ate anything that wasn't quick and easy, not with his work and the research he was doing, combined with the work he was doing with the Avengers; he never had time to prepare decent meals for himself. This made a nice change.

"Jealous, hot stuff?" Harry asked with a cheeky wink before turning back to the stove, pouring more batter into the frying pan, this time adding blueberries for Tony. He really did love cooking and seeing as he hadn't been able to get back to sleep after unexpectedly waking up at five in the morning he had decided to put the time to good use.

He had been waking up at that time every day to go to work and get all of his paperwork done. He needed a secretary or a personal assistant or something really. Kingsley had permitted him the budget to allow for one but he had never found anyone that he liked and was therefore stuck with the workload himself. Not that he minded much; work was his life, at least it had been before this mission.

"After you two defiled my pool yesterday, hell yes I'm jealous," Tony said with a not so subtle wink to Harry before Bruce could say anything. It had been a while since Pepper had slept in his bed with him, she was mad with him, though this was nothing new. She was always mad at him for something but this was the longest that she had gone without yelling at him and giving him a chance to rectify what he had done.

"You were watching?" Steve asked, turning to look at Tony with an expression of disbelief and disgust. He didn't appreciate the fact that their privacy had been violated in such a way; what he and Harry had done the day before was not something that Steve felt comfortable with people watching. It had been highly personal and he believed strongly that what they had shared should stay between two people and not be broadcast as public knowledge.

"There are cameras for security purposes," Tony explained with a shrug, unapologetic in his tone. In truth he had not set out to watch them at it, however, once he had realised what had been going on, he just couldn't take his eyes off them. He was almost ashamed to say that it had turned him on a little, something he wasn't about to admit to them.

"And I suppose that your voyeuristic tendencies are for security purposes too?" Harry asked, torn between being annoyed and a little amused. It was another thing that he wasn't unfamiliar with, he'd had someone watch him sleep with someone before but they had been in the room with them and not through a camera. Harry was far too accustomed to his body being public property to mind too much, he was pretty sure that Which Wizard had at least one picture of him fully nude, not that they had published it… yet.

"Of course," Tony said with an unapologetic grin, "just making sure that neither of you drowned." Steve looked at him dubiously at this, he knew Tony far too well at this point to believe that. He truly didn't know what to say about the fact he had been watching them have sex, too disgusted to really form words. The thing that made it worse, however, was that Harry seemed entirely un-phased by it.

"Perv," Harry said with a scowl, "no pancakes for you," he added, putting the just finished blueberry pancake on to a plate and handing it to Steve with a brief peck to his lips. Bruce couldn't help but snort in amusement at Tony's rather put out expression.

"I have coffee, I'm good," Tony said with a shrug, trying to brush it off and pretend that he wasn't really bothered. It was quite normal for him to forget to eat for a few days anyway, so as long as he stayed fully caffeinated he would be just fine, even if the pancakes did smell really good. "I also have hot guy porn starring Captain America, the money I can make with that will buy me a whole load of blueberry pancakes."

"If you thought it was hot then maybe you need to revise who you're dating," Harry pointed out as he poured some more pancake batter into the frying pan, this time adding chocolate chips for himself. He had always had a sweet tooth, it was something that had stuck with him since he was an eleven year old boy, stuffing his face with sweets on the Hogwarts express and eating a whole treacle tart to himself at Halloween.

"Just because I can appreciate a good body when I see one," Tony said with a shrug. He didn't really get what the big deal with it was, the only prude among them was Steve, no one else really cared and in Tony's mind, Steve really needed to get over his issues.

"Maybe I'll come back to your room sometime and you can see it up close," Harry retorted as he flipped the chocolate chip pancake over in the pan. He was too busy fussing with the food to notice how much Steve tensed up at this suggestion.

"Alright, Casanova, enough of that," Steve said, a hint of jealousy in his tone as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Tony. He really didn't approve of what Tony had done, nor did he appreciate the fact that Stark was now flirting with Harry. It was going to take a little getting used to having his boyfriend flirt with other men, especially when he was right there and watching.

"I might just take you up on that, show you how it's done. Clearly Roger's can't keep you satisfied," Tony said with a wink, ignoring Steve completely. He had always rather enjoyed winding Steve up, now that Harry was around, it just added one more button for Tony to push.

"Oh, Tony, you just aren't man enough to handle me," Harry said sweetly as he put his pancake on a plate. "Sonic, do you want breakfast?" he called, glancing over to the stairs. He knew Clint was sitting up there quietly, listening and watching as he tended to do.

"I think you are going to give Steve an aneurysm," Bruce said with heavy amusement. He didn't think he had ever seen Steve's face so quite so red before. It almost looked as if Steve was on the verge of whisking Harry away from them all and not returning with him for a good few hours.

"The love bite on his neck makes it pretty clear he's been claimed," Clint said, coming down the stairs from the living area above to join them. He had been listening to the conversation as it unfolded and had been finding it rather amusing. Steve's old fashioned values had always seemed a little odd to him, but he had accepted them as part of the charms of Captain America.

"No one claims me, Sonic," Harry retorted. "Now, do you want pancakes?" Steve was watching Harry very carefully and was marvelling at how domestic the young man appeared to be, despite the fact he seemed so detached emotionally to romantic endeavors before him. One day soon, Steve was hoping that Harry might open up more about his past because he really wanted to know what Harry had been through before he had ended up in America.

"Sure," Clint responded with a shrug, taking a seat slightly away from the rest of the group at the dining table. He had never been overly fond of crowds, even groups as small as the one gathered in the kitchen, he much prefered to watch from a distance and observe what was going on if he could.

"Say please," Harry said teasingly, smiling at Clint somewhat cheekily. He did rather enjoy teasing the sullen man, who didn't seem to know how to take it.

"Please," Clint growled, not enjoying how he was practically having to beg for breakfast. None of the others had had to say please but he knew why Harry was doing it so he didn't want to say anything just in case it spurred Harry on to do it more. Instead he needed to act as if it didn't bother him in the slightest, even though it really did.

"Pretty please," Harry teased and Clint glowered at him, not willing to be humiliated in such a way, he would have rather not had breakfast at all than present himself as a fool that could be manipulated, not after what Loki had done to him.

"I'll make my own breakfast," Clint grunted, going to get up and do just that.

Harry couldn't help himself, he laughed. "Oh sit down, I'm only messing with you, chocolate chips, blueberries or plain? There is syrup in the fridge too."

"Plain," Clint said, not sitting back down, instead moving so that he was standing just outside of the kitchen and watching Harry with eagle eyes as the young man poured batter into the frying pan, acting as if he was fearful that Harry might try and poison him.

"How do you feel after yesterday?" Harry asked, slightly concerned that he might have done Clint some serious damage. The last thing he wanted was for Clint to have lasting damage because of something that he had done, he was genuinely concerned and it showed in his tone.

"Fine," he grunted in reply, slightly surprised at how genuine Harry seemed to be as he had asked this. He respected Harry for his abilities and fully believed what he was capable of but that didn't mean he trusted him fully just yet, that was something that was going to take time to achieve.

"Mr Coulson is here, Sir," Jarvis suddenly announced much to the surprise of everyone in the room, including Tony who had not been expecting visitors so early.

"Oh, send him up," Harry said to Jarvis as he flipped over the pancake for Clint. After going to talk to Fury so early that morning he had been expecting Coulson before breakfast and he hadn't been disappointed.

"You're expecting him?" Steve asked curiously. He wasn't sure what Harry was up to but the fact that he wasn't sharing his plans grated on him a little. They were supposed to be a team, not just as the Avengers but the two of them as a couple as well.

"Yeah, I went to see Fury this morning; I couldn't sleep and needed to discuss some things with him. He said to me that he'd send Coulson when he'd managed to do what I asked," Harry explained as he put the pancake he had been making for Clint on a plate and handed it over to the blue haired man before moving to the fridge to retrieve the syrup.

"And what did you ask?" Clint asked before anyone else could. He was not used to secrets in the team he was working in. He wasn't convinced that Harry was going to make a good member of the Avengers when he was hiding so much from them.

"I can't say," Harry said apologetically, knowing that it must have been frustrating for them all to be denied the information that they wanted and even needed to know. "But I might be able to later, once I get this sorted."

"But you won't tell us," Steve said a little sadly, wishing that Harry would just talk to him, to them as a team. He understood that there were rules and regulations from the world he was from and to break them could mean consequences but it still hurt a little to know that Harry wasn't telling them everything he knew.

"Sorry, Cap, I can't but I promise I will later, it's why I have to go with Coulson," Harry explained, handing the bottle of syrup to Clint before going to Steve and wrapping his arms around the larger man's muscular frame.

"Fine, just please don't proposition him," Steve said, only half teasingly as the lift doors opened and Agent Coulson stepped out. Harry just smiled sweetly, going up on to his tip toes and pressing a chaste kiss to Steve's lips.

"Would I do that?" Harry asked innocently. Steve didn't give him the satisfaction of an answer, he simply looked at him sceptically, which made Harry laugh. They heard Tony snort in amusement behind them too.

"Director Fury is ready for you, Harry," Phil said, standing by the elevator doors, hands together in front of him looking rather formal in his black suit and blue tie.

Harry gave a final kiss to Steve's lips before he untangled himself from his lover's arms and headed over to where Coulson was waiting for him. They gave each other a nod of understanding before the two of them piled into the lift and disappeared from sight.

"What do you think that is all about?" Tony asked, looking to the others, wanting to gage their reactions. Harry was an enigma to them all, none of them sure what to make of him, not even Steve who knew him intimately.

"I guess we'll find out," Bruce said after swallowing a bite of pancake. He had decided from the first mouthful that Harry was a remarkably good cook. Steve didn't say anything, he was still glaring at the elevator doors unhappily, over thinking everything, as usual.

"He's like a lovesick teenager," Clint stated, a little amused by how much Steve had changed just because of Harry. Steve threw Barton a warning stare before deciding that he needed to vent some of his frustrations in private.

Heading to the elevator without saying anything to the others, he hit the call button, intending to head to his quarters where Tony had been kind enough to give him a work out area that could accommodate his prefered methods of training as well as being strong enough to allow him to train with his shield.

-x

Fury was not the only one in his office when Harry arrived. Coulson had walked him to the door and then left, knowing that the conversation that was about to happen was well over his pay grade. The third occupant in the room was someone Harry knew well and recognized instantly.

"Kingsley," Harry greeted. He was not feeling as warm and friendly towards the Minister for Magic as he would normally, not after the lies that had been told to bring him here. In fact Harry was feeling rather irate towards the man he was meant to trust.

"Harry," Kingsley returned, a tone of sadness to his voice. Harry picked up on this at once and he knew that the older gentleman had realised how wrong his actions had been, though that didn't mean that Harry had to forgive him. "Nick, perhaps you will allow us some privacy while we talk," the minister requested and although Fury did not look best pleased he nodded his head in agreement. It wasn't like he couldn't listen into the conversation anyway.

"You lied to me," Harry said the moment the door to the office was closed and the two of them were left alone. He had a lot to get off of his chest, a lot to figure out. He needed to know why it was that he had ended up here. He was rather grateful that he had now but that wasn't the point.

Kingsley sighed. "Not entirely," he began, thinking that he didn't have many options now; he was going to have to tell Harry the entire truth about the situation. "I did send you here to protect you, that much I did keep from you; however, my brother is not as much of a mysterious genius as he believes he is. I knew that he would have his own motives for agreeing to have you here. He rarely does anything that won't benefit him in some way. I was under no illusion that you would be relaxing and taking a holiday, I knew that he would have a mission for you to complete."

"Your brother?" Harry asked, realization dawning on him. It made a lot of sense now that he thought about it, though there weren't a lot of similarities between the two of them that he could see.

"Half brother, we share a mother. Huge scandal when it happened, but it doesn't matter. I trust this man and I sent you here because I knew that you would be safe here, I know him well enough to know that he had his own motives but also that he would not put you in danger, not when I had asked him to protect you."

"Did you know about George before you sent me away?" Harry asked; he needed to know the answer to this at the very least. This mattered a great deal to Harry, if the Minister had known that someone that he considered to be family was in trouble and had still sent him away then Harry was not going to be happy.

"We knew that the Weasley family had been compromised, we didn't know to what extent. It was too much of a risk to get you involved when you care for them so much. You are a better asset here than in England." Kingsley had tried to do the right thing, he had seen how close Harry was to falling over the edge and he knew that losing more people that he loved would have been the last straw. He had sent him away not only to protect him from the new threat against their world but also to protect him from himself.

He had honestly sent Harry away with the best intentions, just like he had promoted Harry with the same best intentions, thinking that he needed to be out of the field. However, a desk job had seemed to slowly kill Harry all the more, which was possibly even more dangerous than having him on assignment having spells fired at him. It had been a tough choice but Kingsley couldn't regret his decision to send Harry here, especially not if the rumours were true.

"You realise it's the same threat, right? Loki is the one you're hunting, the one hurting the Weasley family, he's Thor's brother for goodness sake. I'm no safer here than I was at home," Harry argued, finding it laughable that the same threat that Kingsley had tried to protect him from was the one he was going to be fighting against.

"Yes, well, there is another problem," Kingsley said with a tired sigh, this was not what he had been looking forward to telling him. Harry had never enjoyed his status as a celebrity, the fact that once again his personal life was all over various publications for all to see was never going to be a pleasant topic of discussion.

"Another one? I probably should have been expecting that, this is my life after all," Harry returned with a dramatic roll of his eyes. If there wasn't just one more thing then it just wouldn't be complicated enough for him.

"The entirety of Wizarding England knows that you're in New York, speculation in the paper's is that you are shacked up with a lover, I believe he is one of my brothers unique team of super humans," Kingsley explained. If he'd had forethought then he might have brought a copy with him, however, it might only have exacerbated the situation. As it was, Harry didn't look best pleased with this news.

"He's not my boyfriend, I don't know what he is, but he isn't important, not to this conversation," Harry said defensively, really not wanting to talk about his relationship with Steve. "I need to be able to get home in a hurry, I need a port key, just in case. If something happens then I need to be able to get back home," Harry added, thinking that he wanted an escape route other than a long and tedious flight.

"Funnily enough I agree, I've had one made, just in case," Kingsley said, removing a wound up belt and buckle from inside of one of his robe pockets. "Wear this, keep it for emergency use only, tap it once with your wand to activate it and then tell it where you want it to take you, it'll take a couple of minutes to activate after that."

"That it?" Harry asked, accepting the belt and buckle, securing it around his waist without a moment of hesitation. Kingsley nodded his head, wanting for Harry to feel as if he was safe and that he had a way out if it came to that. "I want to tell them what I am and where I came from," he said when silence descended between them.

"I'm not sure that that is such a good idea," Kingsley said with a grimace. Nick had told him of the relationship that Harry and Steve had embarked on to, how serious it had become between them and how quickly.

He was happy that Harry finally seemed to have found something, or rather someone to keep him grounded and keep him steady. However, that didn't mean that he thought it was a good thing that Harry now wanted to tell Steve everything after only two days. It seemed a little extreme; Kingsley was aware that nothing in Harry's life was ordinary but even this seemed a little strange for Harry who had always struggled with trusting people.

"Fury knows, he must do. I've been using magic in front of them, they aren't going to find it that weird. If Loki is trying to break into the Ministry then surely my team that you put me with to fight against Loki should know what they're fighting to protect, what extra factors they have to consider in this fight?" Harry was all prepared to argue his point, more than anything he wanted to be able to be honest with Steve. It seemed wrong to keep lying to him.

"How do you know that Loki is trying to break into the Ministry?" Kingsley asked, a little shocked at this revelation. He had had no idea that the goal had been to break into the Ministry, he was confused as to how Harry knew this with such certainty.

"This is why they need to know what I am," Harry pointed out, thinking that this was exactly why they needed to be a more united team rather than spread out and keeping information from one another. "Loki wants something that I put into the Ministry, I'm not sure you'd recall it, we didn't know what it was at the time, I put it on the list for things that the Unspeakables needed to investigate. It was my last mission, before you promoted me… that sphere."

"I recall the mission in question," Kingsley said sadly, he would never forget a mission that killed one of their own. A good man had died that day, Kingsley himself had told the young man's family, he had thought that they were owed that much at the very least. Shane had been so young, so idealistic and he had given his life up to protect the wizarding world.

"I placed the sphere into the Ministry, protecting it with the enchantments that I usually use for unknown and potentially dangerous items. I'm the only one who will be able to retrieve it and that is why Loki is hunting me," Harry explained, looking at Kingsley with a sad expression, not knowing why it seemed to always be him.

"You could transfer the enchantments so that the sphere was protected by me, I could take that responsibility," Kingsley offered. It was something that he would do for Harry because the young man before him had already been through enough in his life. If there was just one thing he could do to give Harry a break then he was going to do it.

"And put you at risk, Minister? No, I don't think so. I won't put anyone in the line of fire and save myself, it's not my style," Harry said with a sad smile, knowing that this was his fight now, the world had come together to put him here, he was going to see it out to the bitter end.

"Courageous and Gryffindor to the end," Kingsley said and, although his tone was approving, there was a hint of sadness to it as well.

"You still haven't agreed to me telling them about what we are," Harry stated, ignoring the compliment. This was a man he trusted but he was still going to do what he thought was best, thought it would be helpful if Kingsley gave his permission.

"Because I am not sure that it is wise; I believe that the relationship with the man, Steve Rogers is clouding your judgement a little," Kingsley said with a sigh, thinking things over. "However, I do think that he is good for you, the relationship is good for you, so if you are sure that they will keep the secret then you will not be brought up on charges against the wizarding world if you tell them."

"I appreciate that," Harry said with a small smile. He hadn't realised how much he had needed Steve until he had come into his life, how happy he was now that he had someone to share his life with. He hadn't thought that he would ever find someone that he could, not someone that didn't care about his fame.

"Just do me a favour," Kingsley requested, "stay here for a while. The papers reported that you were in New York, that you had a new boyfriend and were living with him. There wasn't much else, nothing about you being here on a mission, but there is uproar at home right now. If you come back you'll be mobbed by fans, you are better here, at least for now."

"And what about Loki? If he knows that I'm in New York, he'll know that I'm with the Avenger's, he'll come here, he'll come looking for me," Harry said, not knowing what was best for him right now. If he went home then he would be mobbed by his fans and the situation would be too far out of control. If he stayed here then there was no doubt in his mind that Loki would come to them and then they would all be in trouble. New York didn't need a repeat of what had happened last time when Loki had come to visit.

"That is why I gave you an emergency portkey," Kingsley said. "The Avengers, as you call them, can handle Loki. They have done so before and will survive going up against him again. You are my priority, Harry, not them, they can take care of themselves."

"Not against us," Harry pointed out. "If there are wizards and witches involved, then these people won't be able to stand against them. They might not be your average muggles but they still can't stand against us no matter how special they are."

"They are here to protect you, not get involved with our affairs. You can tell them about who you are, the world where you have come from but they are not to come into our world, I can't allow that to happen Harry, not without special reasons."

"I understand but Loki isn't anything like what we've ever faced before, he isn't like Voldemort, he isn't one of us, but he wants something that we have. That sphere holds our power, I touched it, it duplicated my magic and stored it inside with whatever other power it has and that is what Loki wants."

Kingsley looked at Harry in fascination and horror; he had had no idea that the sphere that had been brought into the Ministry had so much power concealed inside of it or how much danger it had the potential to be. The unspeakables had not yet had the time or the resources to investigate it and this was making it painfully clear that this was an oversight. They had been short staffed in the Department of Mysteries for a while but Kingsley had believed that they were on top of it.

"We won't allow him anywhere close to that sphere," Kingsley said definitively, Harry nodded in agreement to this. There was no way that they could ever allow Loki to get hold of that sphere.

"There was something else that Thor said," Harry mused, thinking things over in his mind. "He said that Loki couldn't have escaped without help. No witch or wizard would be able to get to whatever world Thor and Loki are from, it had to be outside help."

"Are you thinking that perhaps someone other than this Loki character is after the sphere?" Kingsley asked; he had always admired the way Harry's mind worked, though never before had he seen it in action. There was a reason Harry had become such an admired Auror, why he had been promoted so quickly too.

"I think so, sure Loki would have use for all that power but how would he know about it when S.H.I.E.L.D and Thor can't find much information? I mean, think about it, someone, somewhere had to know about it to be able to tell Loki about it. Someone higher up that we can't see is helping him, that's who we need to focus on, not Loki, he's just a pawn to distract us."

"I think you're right," Kingsley said in agreement. "I will look into it when I return home; if there is some bigger threat out there then we need to know about it now, because taking Loki out of the equation won't help anyone if there is a larger organization behind him."

"I'll look into it this side and see what I can come up with," Harry said, mulling things over in his mind. "S.H.I.E.L.D has had their enemies past and present, it could be someone they've come across before."

"Don't work yourself too hard, these people can accept you for who you are without judging you or obsessing over you like some of your fans back home. Use this time, not only to work on your mission but to take the time you need to be relax. You work too hard, Harry, I've always thought that about you."

"Minister," Harry began, concerned more for those that he loved that he had left back in England than for himself, "my family… are they okay? Ron, Hermione, Teddy, the other Weasleys… they are all safe, right?"

"Ron and Hermione went into hiding with their daughter shortly before you left. Teddy and his grandmother also went to a safe house. Anyone close to you we tried to move them out of the line of fire so that they wouldn't be targetted to get to you," Kingsley explained, sugar coating the truth a little because he didn't want Harry to worry.

"Just do what it takes to keep them safe, don't worry about me, I'm good here," Harry said reassuringly. He meant it too, he would be fine here, at least for a while, as long as those he cared about were safe then he would be fine.

"I'll be in contact when we know more, just stay safe, find out whatever you can about who could be helping Loki. Enjoy some time with that young gentleman," Kingsley said with a small, knowing smile.

-x

"Where's Steve?" Harry asked as he reemerged on the communal floor after his meeting with Kingsley. He had been gone for a while, the breakfast stuff all washed up and the kitchen spotless.

Natasha was sitting at the table reading, her feet propped up on another chair, Harry could have snorted in amusement at the fact that she was reading a book entitled Tai-otoshi, which by the picture on the cover seemed to be some kind of Judo combat guide. He didn't think that she would do anything that could be thought of as recreational.

"Don't know," she said without looking up from her book. She cared very little for Harry and was more than a little disgruntled that he and Steve were getting away with their relationship when she had never been able to even consider it with Clint.

"Thanks for the help, much appreciated," Harry muttered sarcastically as he moved past Natasha, heading for the stairs that led up to a living area. He took the steps two at a time and found Clint there, lounging on one of the settees. He was reading too and it amazed Harry that the two of them wouldn't just sit and read together.

"Dont' know where lover boy is," Clint said before Harry could say anything. He didn't bother looking up from his book either. He and Natasha were so very alike.

"Tony, Bruce, anyone more helpful than the two of you?" Harry asked in frustration, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Two?" Clint asked in confusion, glancing up from his book long enough to glance around to see if he could find the second person that Harry had mentioned, however, he saw no one else.

"Natasha's downstairs," Harry explained. "You didn't know?"

Clint shook his head looking a little puzzled. "Ask Jarvis," Clint said, getting to his feet and bypassing Harry as he headed for the stairs.

"Jarvis, where is Steve?" Harry asked, feeling a little stupid talking to himself and wondering if Clint had suggested this just to make him feel a little stupid. It probably would have been a good way to pay him back for the blue hair, if it hadn't worked.

"Steve Rogers is in his quarters, Sir," the computer generated voice of Jarvis informed him and Harry smiled, heading for the stairs. With Steve in their rooms it allowed for plenty of privacy and after his meeting with Kingsley this was exactly what Harry wanted.

"What are you smiling about?" Natasha asked as Harry walked rather quickly through the kitchen dining room, heading for the lift.

"Didn't you hear," Clint said in amusement, "Steve's in their bedroom."

Natasha said nothing, simply giving Harry a rather disapproving look as he stuck his tongue out at the two of them as he pressed the call button for the lift. He was buzzing with excitement, hopping from foot to foot as he waited impatiently.

"It would be cute if it wasn't so sickening," Natasha said as Clint sat down at the table with her. Harry was all out of sassy comebacks, far too preoccupied with what he was going to be doing with Steve in a matter of minutes to be thinking of witty retorts.

"Never thought I would hear you refer to anything as cute," Clint said with an amused smile, as he turned to look at Natasha, laughing when she simply glared at him before turning back to her book. She really was a unique woman, and he was very fond of her; they had always stayed professional, but he couldn't help that seeing how Harry and Steve were together had made him wonder if there was a chance for something more.

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><p>What did you think? Hopefully you liked it. Let me know.<p> 


	9. Black Out

The Affliction of War

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><p>Thank you for all of the amazing feedback, you guys are amazing!<p>

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><p>Chapter Nine - Black Out<p>

"Steve," Harry called out as he searched level sixty nine for any sign of Steve. He had already searched the bedroom and sitting area but with no luck so far. There were so many doors all over the place that Harry honestly wasn't sure where he had checked and where he hadn't at this point and was considering asking Jarvis to point him in the right direction.

"Here," came a grunted reply a second later, it sounded rather strained and Harry was rather intrigued as to why, so, following the sound of Steve's shallow grunts, he found his lover in a workout type room. Harry took a moment to appreciate the sight that greeted him. Steve was in loose fitting, grey tracksuit bottoms, which seemed to hug him around his arse, and, much to Harry's delight, nothing else, as he hit at a punching bag, letting off steam

"Now that is hot," Harry said with a low whistle as he raked his eyes up and down his lover's body, watching his muscles flex and move as he worked out. He was starting to feel a little hot and bothered watching Steve go at it like this, sweat dripping down his back, muscles flexing with each punch.

Steve said nothing in return as Harry slowly approached him, though he stopped hitting the punching bag when he felt Harry's hands on his hips and lips against the sweat glazed skin of his back, the soft kisses moving up his back to the nape of his neck where teeth grazed over the sweat tainted skin, nibbling affectionately.

"Did you get what you needed?" Steve asked, a little breathless, his hands gripping the punching bag as Harry's hands wandered across his body, eyes closed as he allowed his younger lover to kiss and caress him.

"I did," Harry replied, his voice soft as he reached around his lover with both hands to play with his nipples, gently stroking at them as he sucked and nibbled at Steve's neck, marking him.

"Will you talk to me now?" Steve asked, hoping against hope that there would be less secrets between them soon. What the two of them shared was amazing but it would never be more than what it was until Harry felt as if he could trust him with a few of his secrets and he seemed to have a fair few.

"Later," Harry said as he moved his attentions down, slowly going down to his knees, placing soft kisses across Steve's back as he went, his hands resting on the older man's hips, fingers teasing at the elastic waistband of his sweatpants. "First, I have something else in mind," he added before delving one hand inside of Steve's pants, fondling his semi-erect cock through his boxers.

"We can't," Steve said as his fingers gripped at the punching bag to steady himself as Harry stroked him through the thin cotton material of his underwear.

"Why?" Harry question curiously, never stopping his actions, casually caressing Steve's erection at a leisurely pace, feeling the older man tense up as he bit his lip, trying not to moan in pleasure.

"He might be watching," Steve said, not liking the fact that Tony had an all access pass to whatever they were doing whenever he wanted. He needed for what he and Harry shared to remain between the two of them and not be for Tony's amusement or pleasure. The fact that it was made him uncomfortable and he needed Harry to understand this.

"Jarvis," Harry said, never stopping what he was going to Steve, "Please give us complete privacy on level sixty nine," he requested to the computer.

"Level sixty-nine has now been secured," Jarvis confirmed a moment later.

"Better?" Harry asked as he withdrew his hand and began to push down the sweatpants and underwear, wanting to admire the fully naked body of his lover. He had plans for this particular love making session. He was very aware of just how inexperienced Steve was and Harry wanted to give him a few new experiences.

"Yes," Steve said, his voice coming out a little raspy as he felt Harry's lips kissing the small of his back as he kicked off his clothing. "What are you doing," Steve asked as he felt Harry move his kisses lower, hands fondling his arse.

Harry said nothing in return as he parted the two firm globes and ran his tongue over the tight ring of muscle which initiated a shocked gasp from Steve as his muscles clenched together in shock, he had had no idea what had been about to happen and it had taken him by complete surprise.

"I want to show you how it feels," Harry explained, "if you're up for it." He was a little worried that his large, muscular lover might not want to bottom but he wanted the offer to be there for him. Steve had never done this before so Harry wanted to make sure that he experienced everything, the two of them together.

"Yes," Steve said, his voice raspy as he moved forward slightly, still gripping at the punching back but now resting his forehead against it too, willing to allow his lover to do whatever he wanted to him at this point.

Harry didn't respond, at least not verbally, positioning himself behind Steve, he ran his tongue around the rim of his lovers entrance, coating it in saliva. The lube they had bought the previous day was in their bedroom and Harry was reluctant to relocate just yet, not when he had Steve exactly how he wanted him.

With a little effort, Harry slowly and carefully slipped a single finger inside of Steve, causing the older man to grunt with the unexpected pressure and bite of pain that came with it. Harry remembered how it felt and moved quickly to distract his lover by sucking and nibbling at the tight ring of muscle, adding extra lubricant in the form of his saliva as he began to move the single digit in and out in smooth, slow motion.

He continued with this for a few more moments until Steve had become used to the sensation and was moaning, biting down and gnawing at his lip to keep from crying out too loudly. His grip on the punching bag causing his knuckles to turn white.

Harry added a second finger to stretch Steve out a little further, never relenting with his tongue and teeth and this time there was no sound of discomfort from the older man, just louder moans of pleasure. Harry took this as an invite to speed up his actions a little, hooking his fingers a little in search of the little bundle of nerves inside of his lover.

He knew the moment that he found it, Steve cried out in pleasure and utter shock as he exploded, his come splattering the punching bag and his strength pulling it from the ceiling which sent them both tumbling to the ground along with bits of the ceiling and a fair amount of dust. Withdrawing from the older man, Harry moved to make sure that Steve was alright and found him breathless and smiling.

"You are amazing," Steve managed to say, pulling Harry on top of him and claiming his lips in a searing kiss.

"We're not done yet, Captain," Harry said with a salacious grin as he withdrew from the kiss. "Let's take this to the bedroom before we destroy anything else."

Steve nodded his agreement to this plan, gathering Harry up into his arms as he got to his feet. His legs were still a little weak form his sudden orgasm but Harry barely weighed anything despite his muscle. He had seen how the smaller man had reacted when he had entered him and now Steve wanted to feel that for himself.

He placed Harry down upon the bed watching with eagle eyes as Harry began to strip, first removing his t-shirt, revealing his defined stomach muscles, throwing the material carelessly to one side, not caring where it ended up. Then going to the belt, being more careful with this and placing it consciously on the nightstand before going for the button on his jeans, popping them open with teasing slowness. Steve couldn't stop watching as Harry slowly edged his trousers down, taking his boxers with him.

"Grab the lube," Harry instructed as he kicked off his trousers, watching as Steve crawled on to the bed beside him, going to the draw in the bedside cabinet where they had put the bottles of lube. They had in fact bought a few different flavours, which had been entirely Harry's idea but Steve grabbed the nearest one without looking and Harry couldn't help but laugh at it's bright pink lid, knowing that it was mixed berry flavour.

Steve ignored Harry's smile, knowing exactly what he was grinning about. Throwing the lube on to the bed, he began to kiss every inch of Harry's exposed chest, moving lower, tongue circling his belly button before gripping the base of the younger man's cock and taking the tip into his mouth. Harry's hands fisted in the duvet beneath him, trying to fight the urge to buck his hips upwards into the wet warmth around his erection.

The older man rather enjoyed the effect that he was having on his lover, using his tongue to swirl around the tip as he used his hands to stroke the base of the shaft and play with his balls. "Stop," Harry begged, "Steve, stop," he gasped out, knowing that if they carried on then he was going to come and then they wouldn't be doing much more of anything.

Steve chuckled a little as he withdrew, his own cock starting to grow hard again. Just seeing Harry reacting like this, hearing the sounds that he was making it was a huge turn on. Harry pushed himself up, pulling Steve to him and pressing their lips together. He was so desperate for release, so close that he needed to calm himself down a little before they went any further otherwise it wasn't going to last long.

"If you're not sure," Harry began but Steve silenced him with another kiss, he knew that he was sure, beyond sure in fact. He wanted this and Harry wasn't going to talk him out of it.

"I want to," Steve said, knowing that he, at the very least, wanted to try; he wanted to feel Harry inside of him, needed to know what that felt like to be entirely possessed and claimed by this man whom he cared for so deeply.

"If you want me to stop," Harry continued and once again his ramblings were stopped when Steve pressed their lips together, kissing him for all he was worth. This time Harry took that to mean that Steve was more than sure that he wanted this.

The two of them moved themselves up the bed, Harry taking the dominant position, pushing Steve on to his back and straddling him, all while never breaking the kiss. Their hands wandering to intimate places, stroking and caressing.

Harry moved his way down Steve's body, using his lips and tongue to worship every inch of Steve's glorious upper body. One hand stroking at the older man's erection that was leaking pre-cum already. He knew that Steve wasn't nearly prepared enough so, grabbing the lube, Harry flicked the cap open and squirted some of the sweet smelling substance on to his fingers.

He slipped two digits in easily from the preparation that he had done while they were in the workout room, Steve baring down on the two fingers inside of him, reaching his hands up to grip at the headboard to steady himself as Harry pushed in a third finger.

Harry stretched out his fingers, not wanting to hurt his lover on his first time, he wanted to make sure that Steve enjoyed himself and judging by the moans escaping from his lips he certainly was. It wouldn't take much more before Steve was ready. Having the sudden urge to taste his lover, Harry took Steve's erection into his mouth as he continued to stretch out his entrance.

"Harry," Steve gasped out as his body tensing as his second orgasm ripped through him, his come emptying into Harry's mouth where the younger man drank it down, swallowing every drop and continuing to suck on the wilting erection, determined to make his lover hard again before he had even become entirely soft.

Harry was relentless, stretching and sucking at his lover, teasing the sensitive tip of Steve's cock until the older man was almost screaming with pleasure, begging for Harry to stop because it was all becoming too much, every single one of his nerve endings having been stimulated and teased until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Please, Harry," Steve pleaded desperately, gripping at the headboard so tightly that without much warning, except for a low, ominous creak, the wooden headboard of the bed cracked in his hands. Steve neither seemed to notice or care as he begged with Harry to take him.

Lost in the moment, Harry withdrew his fingers from Steve, moving so that he was level with his lover and claiming his lips in a passionate kiss, reaching for the lube again. He unclicked the lid while never breaking the kiss, moving the tube between them and squeezing some on to his erection. Before Harry could coat himself however, Steve's hand was there to do it for him. Harry gasped at the unexpected contact, having to pull away from the kiss and bit down on his lower lip to keep in control of himself.

"Stop or I'm going to come," Harry managed to gasp out, looking directly into Steve's stunning, lust filled, blue eyes. The older man nodded, removing his hands and smearing the unwanted lube on to the sheets without a second thought as Harry positioned himself so that his cock was lined up to his lover's well prepared entrance.

Harry was used to this, he often took control, his trust issues hadn't allowed for him to bottom to anyone in a long time. He could count on one hand the list of men whom he had felt comfortable submitting to so he knew exactly what he was doing as he pushed himself slowly inside of his lover.

Steve was not the first virgin Harry had slept with and he knew how to make it a memorable experience for him. Steve had already come twice and had so far the two of them had destroyed two items of furniture today, not bad considering it was only lunchtime.

When he was fully inside of his lover, Harry held himself there, his biceps trembling with the effort of holding himself up, a layer of sweat coating his skin. He wanted to make sure that he wasn't causing his lover any pain or discomfort before continuing. Harry watched as Steve relaxed, getting accustomed to having someone inside of him. Only when he felt his older lover fully release the tension in his muscles did Harry start to move, angling his hips so that with each thrust he hit the little bundle of nerves inside of Steve, causing him to arch his back and bare down upon Harry as he pushed himself inside of his lover.

On the fourth brush against Steve's prostate he came, exploding all over the two of them, his muscles clenching around Harry who needed little more encouragement before he too was tipped over the edge, spilling himself into his lover. Unable to hold himself up any longer, Harry collapsed on top of Steve, breathing heavily and lacking the energy to even pull out.

Neither of them had been tired before their mid day romp, but neither of them saw the point of fighting to stay awake when sleep was pulling them in. Without saying anything, Steve drew his arms around his smaller lover and held him as the two of them drifted off to sleep.

-x

Steve was the first one to wake later in the afternoon. For a moment he felt a little disorientated, unused to sleeping during the day, however, he soon realised where he was and who he was with and this seemed to relax him. Harry was cuddled into his side still fast asleep and he couldn't help but watch the younger man.

He became absolutely mesmerized by the defined cheek bones, ruffled raven hair, the faint pink lightning shaped scar on his lovers forehead and the puffy lips that were still a little swollen from their kisses, the lower one looking a little gnawed on.

He had no idea what it was that Harry needed to tell him or indeed any of the potential horror's that the young man was concealing but it worried him. He desperately wanted to know what Harry had been through to make him the way he was, it was almost tempting enough to wake him up to find out. However, it wasn't something Steve could do, Harry looked so peaceful.

They had only known each other three days and yet there was an undeniable feeling in Steve's stomach, like it was doing somersaults constantly whenever he thought about Harry or saw him or was genuinely around him. He knew without a doubt that he never wanted to be parted from him but at the same time he knew that this wasn't exactly normal.

Bucky he had known for a long time, the feelings he had had for his childhood friend had developed over time. Peggy he had thought as of an attractive female, he had known that she was the kind of woman his parents had always wanted him to marry but it wasn't until after the serum that he had started to feel intensely towards her and even then it was nothing close to this. The war had stopped anything happening between them and it had also stopped him from developing serious feelings for her as well. Harry however… it had been three days and he was almost certain that he was in love with him.

"You look to be thinking very hard," Harry murmured sleepily, stifling back a yawn as he snuggled into Steve, placing soft kisses upon his chest. "What you thinking about?"

"You, us… whatever it is you had to get permission to tell me," Steve said softly, staring into the beautiful emerald eyes that seemed to be alight with emotion.

"Well unless you want to go another round, I could… you know… tell you," Harry said with a small sigh, "but I know what would be more fun."

"I want us to last, Harry, it isn't going to if we can't be honest with one another," Steve said seriously. "We can either have lots of amazingly mind blowing sex and fail in a few weeks or we can start talking to one another and we can have that amazingly mind blowing sex for the rest of our lives."

"You make an excellent point, Captain," Harry said with a smile, tracing light patterns across his lover's chest. "One question first though," he said, looking up at Steve imploringly, "you really think the sex is amazingly mind blowing?"

"Don't you?" Steve asked, suddenly concerned. He had never thought about it before but he supposed that his inexperience counted against him. He hadn't considered that he might be bad in bed in comparison to someone with Harry's level of sexual experience.

"Honestly, Cap," Harry said with a smile playing on his lips, "this is the best sex I've had in my life," he said honestly. There was something about this large, muscular man that Harry couldn't explain but the two of them connected and it made everything better between them.

"Will you talk to me then?" Steve asked, feeling a little smug with what Harry had just told him. He'd seen the reactions that his lover had had but to hear him say the words was something else entirely.

"I honestly don't know where to start," Harry said truthfully, sitting up in the bed and crossing his legs, ensuring that part of the duvet covered his modesty. Steve remained lying down, looking up at the smaller man, a little concerned with the seriousness in which he spoke.

"The beginning," Steve suggested, watching Harry closely. He was playing with the edge of the duvet, fiddling with it nervously and determinedly not looking at him either.

"Well, there are two beginnings I guess, the first when my parents were killed when I was fifteen months old and sent to live with my aunt and uncle but I didn't know anything back then. It really started when I was eleven and a half giant broke down the front door to the place we were staying and told me that I was a wizard."

It took them until late into the evening before Harry had finished telling Steve everything. Of course Steve had had so many questions, all of which Harry had answered for him. There were a few things that he had kept hidden, including his abusive past with his Aunt and Uncle, that was something he wasn't ready to reveal just yet. Harry told Steve more than he intended to tell the rest of the Avenger's, something he made perfectly clear.

"But you're telling me everything?" Steve asked, a little shocked that he didn't plan on being this honest with the others, though a little grateful for the fact that Harry trusted him with this. He was also taken aback that Harry was opening himself up and spilling his life to him so openly. Whomever he had gone to speak to this morning it seemed to have done the trick.

"Yes, because you're right, I want this to last between us and you need to know who I am, what I've done," Harry said sadly, "Because now you have the choice, now that you know what I'm capable of, how damaged I've become because of it, you don't have to be with me."

"You're a war hero Harry, why would I not want to be with you?" Steve asked, pulling Harry to him and holding him close, giving him a kiss to the top of his head, "Does this seem as if I don't want to be with you?"

"But I killed someone," Harry said, pulling back enough so that he could look Steve in the eyes as he said this, "I became famous for surviving a murder attempt and then murdering someone who had tortured and killed countless people that I… that I loved. People all over the world now love me for that and I can't understand why."

"Because you saved them, Harry… the people here, they love me for much the same reason; though I neither appreciate nor crave it, unlike some on this team who seem to thrive off it," Steve said with a sigh. "It doesn't make you a terrible person, it makes you brave and courageous beyond your years. You should never be ashamed of what you've done."

"But I am, I never wanted to kill anyone, not even… him," Harry said, studying Steve closely, trying to work out if his confession of his sins could really be going this well. He knew that the two of them had a lot on common when it came to their pasts but Harry had never thought that Steve would take it quite as well as this.

"And that right there is what proves what a good person you are," Steve pointed out, leaning down to capture Harry's lips in a chaste kiss. "You did what you had to, I understand that, I really do," he said, holding Harry's head in one hand, stroking his cheek with his thumb. "Is this why you don't let people get close?" he asked curiously, studying Harry closely, wanting to know if this was why he had shut himself off for so long.

Harry chuckled. "What are you, my psychologist?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood and deflect from the question, not sure if he was ready to give Steve an honest answer to that just yet.

"Harry…" Steve said with a sigh, recognising Harry's deflection and wanting it known that he wasn't going to allow for him to dodge the difficult questions that easily. Steve had meant it when he had said that he wanted what they had to last.

"I don't know, okay? I just…" Harry hesitated, not knowing how he could put it so that Steve would understand. "How many girls or guys could you sleep with if you walked out there and just asked them? Hundreds, thousands of them, I bet." His tone wasn't accusatory or anything like that, he just wanted to make a point.

"I don't know, I never thought about it, I never tried…" Steve said honestly, a little taken aback by this question. It was not something he had considered, he didn't exactly approve when Tony did it that was for sure. The thought of taking advantage of someone like that made him feel a little sick to his stomach.

"I did, when I was at my lowest I asked and they accepted, and none of it was real, they didn't want me; they wanted who they thought I was…" Harry said sadly. "They wanted their hero and I'm not a hero, I never thought I was. They chose me and I did what I had to do to survive. Now I can't forget and they won't let me."

"Well… you don't have to be anything you don't want to be when you're here, not with me at least, be the man you want to be, the man I know you are, I won't judge you," Steve promised. He meant it too, he didn't want Harry to put on a mask or to pretend when they were together, he wanted for it to be real, he wanted them to be honest with one another, just like this and simply be together.

"And when I tell the others? What happens then?" Harry asked, making eye contact and keeping it. He needed to know that Steve would stand by him when he told the others what he was. He wouldn't be telling them everything that he had told Steve but they needed to know what he was at the very least.

"I'll stand by your side, hold your hand and support you. What you forget sometimes is that each of them has their own past, their own secrets, their own regrets. We're all human, even Thor to some extent despite the fact that he's an alien, none of us are entirely proud of what we've done to get where we are today."

"But they are all going to expect great things from me, expect me to be this war hero just like the people back in the wizarding world do,"Harry said, hating that being here, which had been such a relief to begin with, a place where no one knew him, was turning out to be just like being at home. He wasn't sure he would be able to take it if his relationship with Steve became tainted.

"I don't know," Steve said with a hint of amusement to his tone, "I think Clint and Natasha would be quite happy to continue to think of you as a hopeless annoyance," Steve said with a small smile and a wink, wanting to lighten the mood a little between them.

"I feel as if I am, I can't even get my wand out and use it properly," Harry said, glad that finally someone knew and he could talk to them openly about it. Steve had been a little surprised about the bracelets, though he had noticed that Harry had never once removed them from his wrists.

"Harry, you already did," Steve joked, finding it easy to show his real self when it was just the two of them and he knew that there was no one watching them. Especially when they were completely naked and in bed with one another; Steve truly felt as if there were no secrets here.

"Not in that way, you idiot," Harry said fondly, liking how open and affectionate Steve was when they were alone together. Somehow when they were with the others Steve became more sullen and less himself almost, Harry rather liked the man that Steve became when they were alone.

"Harry, you are amazing and special, with or without your wand out," Steve said with a smile on his face as Harry gave him a playful smack to the shoulder, grinning at him.

"Mr Stark would like me to inform you that dinner is on the table," Jarvis suddenly announced to the two of them making them both jump a little.

"He didn't cook it did he, Jarvis?" Harry asked, looking a little worried. He wasn't sure that he would be able to trust Tony's cooking, a man who couldn't even make coffee and had to send out to Starbucks for his caffeine fixes.

"No he did not, Sir, he sent out for it," Jarvis informed them and at this Harry looked a little relieved. Steve smiled at this, though in truth he had been thinking the same thing.

"You know, we could always skip dinner and just spend the time-" however Harry never got to finish his sentence, Steve giving Harry a rather stern glare, shaking his head.

"You barely ate breakfast, we skipped lunch, we're not skipping dinner as well," Steve said firmly. As much as he was in favour of having a lot of sex with Harry, neither of them were going to last much into the night without some form of sustenance. Plus he knew that it would be good for them to show their faces.

"Okay but tonight, just you and me again," Harry said with a smile as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Steve's, meaning for it to be a brief kiss, however, Steve had other ideas, threading his fingers through Harry's messy hair and deepening the kiss.

-x

"Are you going to tell them this evening?" Steve asked as the two of them travelled up to the communal area in the lift, where the others were waiting for them. They were holding hands with one another, Harry leaning into Steve, just wanting to be close to him.

"I think that it'll be for the best," Harry said with a sigh, unsure about whether he wanted to. It had been a tough day already, talking to Kingsley and then telling Steve; however, he knew that the others deserved to know and there really was no reason to keep putting it off.

"Do you know how much you want them to know?" Steve asked. He knew that Harry wasn't going to share everything that he had shared with him but he didn't want to put his foot in it and say something he wasn't meant to. This was really something they should have discussed before leaving their room, however, both of them were keen to eat after skipping lunch and had only just managed to make themselves look presentable and detach themselves from one another before getting in the lift. Though Harry had made sure that he was wearing his belt, it was almost like a safety blanket for him.

"I haven't worked that out yet," Harry said with a sigh; he wasn't even sure he should tell them, Steve had taken it well enough but the others might not. Then, of course, Thor wasn't there and he would need to know and it wouldn't be great repeating himself but then Harry had realised that he was just making excuses. This needed to be done and he couldn't wimp out about it, not if he wanted this mission over with. The Avenger's needed to know what he was and what he had done.

When the lift doors opened, all of Harry's plans changed when he spotted an unknown woman sat at the dinning table next to Thor who he hadn't expected to be there. It was a little peculiar to see that Thor had changed out of his sleeveless armour and red cape to wear jeans, t-shirt and shirt.

Harry stalled when he saw the strange woman sat there, hanging back a little, wanting to evaluate what was going on. He had not received a file on her, he knew nothing about her at all and therefore he was suspicious. Steve didn't appear to know her either, judging by the way he was looking at her with just as much suspicion as Harry.

"Finally, they come up for air," Tony said with a laugh from his place at the head of the table. He was sure that they had been having sex again, even if Jarvis had locked him out of the surveillance of Steve's floor, where Clint has told him they had gone.

"Yeah, we're going to be needing a new bed, we kinda broke the other one… also the punching bag needs to be fixed, we broke that too," Harry said with a grin. Tony now looked between the two of them absolutely dumbfounded as to how they had managed this.

"I'm surprised you can still walk Harry," Tony said, absolutely astonished, "How did you manage to break the punching bag having sex?" He was curious now and more than a little annoyed that he hadn't been able to watch.

"Who says I bottom," Harry returned cheekily as he took a seat in one of the vacant chairs; he didn't miss the sceptical looks that Natasha and Clint shared, but he honestly didn't care what their thoughts on his relationship were.

"I saw you remember," Tony said with a wink. He was rather enjoying teasing the new couple, it was far too easy to do. Bruce was clearly trying not to be too amused by this, studying his curry with intense fascination as he moved rice around his plate, but Harry could see him smiling.

"Harry, that is enough," Steve said taking a seat beside his lover, not wanting their sex life to be broadcast for all of the team to hear. Everyone was present, including the strange girl who no one had bothered to introduce yet. He needed for his team mates to respect him, not to be gossiping about what he was like in bed and how much furniture they could break while going at it.

"You heard the man, no more talking about our sex life," Harry said, giving Steve a brief kiss to the cheek before turning his eyes to the girl next to Thor, keen to change the subject given how obviously uncomfortable it made Steve. "I'm Harry, and you are…?"

"This is Jane, she is my woman," Thor said, clearly very proud of this fact. Jane, however, seemed less than impressed with being referred to in this manner.

Steve was starting to dish out food ignoring the others, first serving Harry and then putting some on his own plate, knowing that they both needed to eat. He was famished, he needed his meals, the serum seemed to have affected his appetite fairly seriously and skipping lunch had not done him any good, especially not replacing it with so much vigorous exercise.

"Girlfriend," Jane corrected giving Thor a stern glare, "It's nice to meet you, Harry," she added with a smile. She was actually feeling rather nervous about being around these people, she had witnessed what they were capable of on the television during the Battle of New York, she had never imagined that she would ever meet them, certainly not all at once.

"No offense or anything but why are you here?" Harry asked, not sure why she had been brought here. Natasha and Clint seemed just as weary of her as they had been of him when he had first arrived. Neither of them even looking in her direction, seemingly unimpressed with Jane's presence at the dinner table. It gave Harry a flare of hope that their reaction to him wasn't anything personal, they just didn't like newcomers.

"Sexual relief?" Tony suggested, causing Jane to glare at him this time. She wasn't impressed with Tony Stark's particular brand of humour. She chose not to pass any comment on what he had said, thinking that ignoring the egocentric man was the only way to deal with him.

"I found something about your sphere," she said beaming proudly at Harry, "I wanted to bring my books but travelling by lightening doesn't exactly give a baggage allowance," she explained, rambling in a way that only she seemed to be able to manage.

"What did you find out?" Harry asked, momentarily a little surprised that this tiny woman was actually there for some reason more than that she had managed to seduce the Thunder God. Harry was keen to hear what she had to say, warming up to her quickly now that it was clear that she was there to contribute; she had an integrity about her that reminded him a little of Hermione and he could certainly see why Thor liked her.

"From what Thor has told me I believe we're dealing with the eight sphere's of ionsú," she told them. "There is the one that contains the power."

"The one that I found," Harry said with understanding. He wasn't sure where she was getting her information from but she sounded so sure and in truth it sounded a lot more likely to Harry than the sphere being some kind of alien device.

"I believe so," Jane confirmed with a nod. "The other seven, they serve as the key to opening the eighth when they come together. The references to it are all a little vague, and from some old texts, but from what I can tell, without the other seven the eighth is useless, except that it can duplicate whatever power or ability the person touching it has, absorbing it."

"But we can't be sure how many of these other seven Loki has," Bruce pointed out. He was sure that if Loki was anywhere close to having the other seven then he would be more seriously trying to get Harry to give him the eighth sphere.

"We should probably assume he has them all, until we know otherwise," Steve said firmly. Loki might not have tried to take Harry yet but that didn't mean he didn't have what he wanted, he might just not have known where Harry was. They couldn't take any chances, not where Harry was concerned.

"Probably wise, given how dangerous they could be," Jane agreed. "Though the spheres on their own have no power, not even when together are they dangerous; they only possess the energy. The power and the danger comes when someone uses the energy and channels it into themselves. There are stories dating back centuries of people absorbing the power and going mad from it, their bodies not equipped to deal with it."

"Loki is no mortal," Thor stated. "He would be able." Mortals were full of mythological lore like this, it was laughable that they thought themselves powerful enough to handle power beyond their own imaginations.

"That is what concerns me," Harry said with a frown, "Thor can you fight him, could you kill him if Loki took on all this power?" He wasn't sure how powerful the Thunder God was or if he would even be able to kill his own brother if it came down to it. Harry wouldn't judge him if he couldn't because he knew that if it came down to it he wouldn't be able to kill George. The Weasley's had lost enough, Molly for one would not be able to survive the loss of another of her children.

"Of course he wouldn't," Clint said with certainty, "This sphere thing has your power," he added, glaring at Harry, angry that he had asked this question, "I've felt what you can do and there is no fighting it." The pain flooding every nerve ending in his body had been unbearable and if Harry could do that then he was wondering what else he was possible of. He was sure that Harry was capable of all number of horrific things and the last thing they needed was for Loki to get hold of this power.

"Just because you're too weak to fight it," Harry snapped. "I've had that curse cast on me more than a few times in my life and I can fight it off." He was not in the mood to deal with bitchy team mates. They had needed proof that he could fight, he had given it to them and now they were bitchy because they didn't like how powerful he was. Harry really couldn't be bothered to deal with it.

"Not even Hulk would be able to fight that off," Clint said bitterly. He sounded unhappy and a little defeated, he looked over to Natasha curiously when he felt a hand upon his knee, trying to reassure him. She smiled at him softly before turning away, not wanting to make it obvious what they were doing.

"Nothing keeps the other guy down," Bruce grumbled, unsure if Harry truly understood the capabilities of the Hulk. He hadn't had the pleasure of meeting the other guy after all. Though the scientist in him was truly tempted to test it out and see if Harry was the answer to finally giving him some relief.

"I think I could with the right… words," Harry said with a sigh, thinking that they were getting off track and they needed to refocus rather than carry on bickering over insignificant things. Harry wanted to tell them what he was but he wasn't sure that he could, not when they felt so bitter towards him and what he was capable of.

"No chance," Tony said with disbelief. It wasn't that he thought Harry incapable but he knew what Bruce was capable of in his other form, hell the man had chewed up a bullet when he had tried to kill himself. Tony wasn't sure what Harry was but he didn't think that even he would be able to put down the green guy.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Tony," Steve said, thinking about all that Harry had told him earlier. He could feel the tension in the room and he wasn't exactly comfortable with it. His hand reached for Harry's beneath the table, food forgotten for the moment. They clutched to one another, their fingers linked together.

"What do you know that we don't?" Natasha asked, glaring at Steve accusingly. She could see in the way that he spoke that he knew something that they didn't. Harry had told him something and Natasha wanted to know, she didn't like being kept in the dark.

"He told me what he is," Steve confirmed, feeling Harry squeeze his hand under the table in warning. Harry didn't want Steve to take the heat on this, it was his secret to tell, he needed to be the one to tell it.

"Steve, don't, I need to be the one," Harry said, giving his lover a sad look. He really didn't want to tell them, not like this, not when they were bickering amongst themselves, however he knew that he couldn't procrastinate on this. They needed to know the truth so that they could defeat Loki and end the nightmare.

"I know, I'm sorry but they need to know," Steve said giving harry's hand a reassuring squeeze right back, also smiling softly at him, wanting to gather the smaller man into his arms and hold him. It had clearly been difficult for Harry to recount everything when it was just the two of them together, however in a larger group it would only be harder.

"I'm…" Harry began, meaning to just tell them and answer whatever questions they had as they came at him, however before he could finish what he was saying their was a loud crack that ripped through the air and the lights went out plunging them into near darkness. The sun had just begun to set and was casting a weird light into the tower but regardless it took a few moments for their eyes to all adjust.

All of them were on their feet in a second as their eyes became adjusted to the lack of light and they realised that there were two new and unwelcome figures amongst them. Everyone froze, not knowing what to do or who it was. No one was meant to be able to get into the tower without Tony specifically giving them access.

These thoughts were suddenly gone however as a horrible rasping sound started coming from Tony who was clutching at his chest and struggling to breath. He fell to his knees, the arc reactor in his chest starting to fade.

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><p>I know, naughty author, leaving it on a cliffhanger... I'm writing the next chapter as we speak though so encourage me to keep going and leave a review.<p> 


	10. Vanishing Act

The Affliction of War

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><p>I know that I was evil to leave you on that cliffhanger, which is why I worked very hard to get this chapter to you. Hope you enjoy it.<p>

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><p>Chapter 10 - Vanishing Act<p>

It took a matter of seconds before the backup generators kicked in and the emergency lights to come on, giving them enough light to see who it was that had rather suddenly appeared before them. Tony, however, was still struggling to draw breath but no one was rushing to help him, everyone's eyes on the two new additions to the room trying to evaluate how much danger they were in.

No one knew what was going on, all of them filled with uncertainty and fear. Loki had caused them a whole world of trouble the last time he had been in New York, the fact that he was back and had found another to control was enough to be fear inducing for even the Avengers.

Harry knew exactly what had happened, even if the others didn't; they had apperated in. It was why the power had failed and it was why Tony was dying right beside them and there was nothing they could do about it. Magic and technology just didn't mix well. He just didn't know what to do about it. Harry had his bracelets which made it possible to use his magic without causing these types of problems, however with Tony in the state he was it might have been best not to over use his magic, bracelets or not, just in case. The last thing Harry wanted was to make Tony worse.

"George," Harry said with disbelief and sadness, looking at his best friend's brother as if he had never seen him before. George looked terrible, a shell of his former self. If Harry had been told that George had done a stint in Azkaban then he wouldn't have been surprised but Harry knew that that wasn't the case, George was simply grieving for his brother. Nine years of greif would destroy anyone. It had completely consumed George.

Harry had seen the photos, the proof that George was with Loki, helping him, but he hadn't truly believed it until now, when the proof was right in front of him looking sad and pathetic, clutching at his wand desperately and pointing it at Harry, who hadn't thought that George would ever willingly go up against him in this way. For so long they had been brothers in every way but blood, he wasn't sure how it had come to this.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I had to," George said, unable to look him in the eye. "He said he could give me Fred back, he said he could bring him back for me." There was true sadness in his voice as he spoke and it made Harry's heart break to hear it. He had spent last Christmas with the Weasley's, everyone had been there, everyone but George and now he understood why.

"Nothing can reawaken the dead, George, you know this," Harry said as Natasha moved slowly towards Tony, never taking her eyes from Loki and George. He was still struggling to breath and the arc reactor in his chest was near enough dead. None of them had their weapons, they hadn't been prepared for this, they had believed themselves safe in their home. Harry was just hoping that Clint and Natasha were not completely weaponless.

Of course they had Bruce but letting the Hulk loose in Avenger's tower had to be a last resort, there was the possibility of so many injuries if Bruce hulked out, if possible it was something that they needed to avoid. Even as Harry thought this he saw that Bruce was edging away from the fight towards Tony as well, just as Natasha was.

"He isn't part of our world, Harry, he could do it," George insisted. He didn't want to believe that he had placed all his hope in a man that was lying to him. He hadn't been the same since his twin had died, he needed Fred back or he needed to join him. At this point he didn't care which it was and this was how he saw himself doing just that.

"It's not possible, George," Harry said; he could feel Steve at his back and could see Clint a metre or so away, but it wasn't going to be enough. "Please don't do this," he pleaded. Harry didn't think that he would be able to fight George, not if it came to it. He couldn't go to Molly and Arthur and tell them that he had killed George, not after everything they had been through.

"I have to try," George said sadly. There was nothing he wouldn't do to bring his brother back, even side with someone against Harry, a man whom he had the greatest of respect for. Whatever happened now he would not regret his choice to try. George didn't care who stood in his way, he and Fred were going to be reunited again one way or another.

"He's dying," Natasha said to the group but Harry knew that she wouldn't say this without reason, it was not through concern that she was telling them this. She had finally managed to get to him and so had Bruce but Tony was still struggling to breath, though Harry could hear him trying to tell them something, he really hoped it was a way to save his life.

"It's magic, they used magic to get in and any form of technology won't work around it. They conflict too much, we all have to leave or he's going to die," Harry said looking at George accusingly. He was talking more to Steve than to anyone else though, he needed him to know what was happening and what he had to do to fix it.

Steve had no clue about the portkey Harry was wearing around his waist but he was aware that Harry had the ability to transport himself places instantly if was needed. Steve wasn't too clear on all of the details but he knew that it was possible.

Clint was confused at the mention of magic, not having been told what Harry was but he was trusting the young man to know what he was doing. He had not taken his eyes off Loki, who was grinning like the psycho that he was. Clint hated Loki with a passion, if he got the chance then he was going to kill him without hesitation.

"If you want us to leave and save the man of Iron, then come with us now," Loki said, offering out his hand towards Harry invitingly.

"Do not do this brother," Thor said; he was stood further back than Clint, Harry and Steve, protecting Jane, shielding her with one of his large muscular biceps. He didn't want her to be caught in the crossfire. Loki dropped his hand, glaring at his brother as if he was a tiresome child and nothing more.

Harry knew that he had to protect them all because otherwise a lot of people were going to die. He had no idea what Loki could do but he knew what George was capable of, especially after nine years of grief consuming him. Without his twin, George had become a twisted and mutated form of his previous self and Harry couldn't be certain that he wouldn't kill each and every one of them just for the small chance that he might get his brother back.

"You still place such value on the lives of these mortals," Loki said, taking a few calm steps closer to his brother. "You give them their freedom, yet condemn your own brother to a life of imprisonment."

"How did you escape?" Thor demanded, glaring at his little brother needing to know because until he did he would not rest easy. "Who aided you?"

"Who says I had aid," Loki said with a knowing smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes. Harry took the opportunity while Loki was distracted to make eye contact with George, he needed a distraction, he needed to leave because he knew that Loki and George would follow him. It was him that they wanted, to save Tony's life he was going to have to leave.

Harry knew what type of person that Loki was within an instant of meeting him, it didn't take a genius to figure it out. The man practically reeked of narcissism and Harry had dealt with so many people just like him so he knew how to play into Loki's weaknesses.

"Look at him, he doesn't need aid," Harry said, switching his focus from George to Loki now, his old friend was not the priority, nor was he the danger here it was Loki that he needed to focus on now because only if he could get Loki's attention could he save Tony.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Steve hissed into his lovers ear, confused as to what was happening. He had joked around and called Harry casanova but this was seriously going too far, to flirt with Loki.

Harry turned to Steve and mouthed 'trust me,' to him before turning his attention back to the God of mischief and smiling, taking a step forward, separating himself from the rest of the avengers. Harry didn't want to hurt Steve but he knew that this was the only way for them all to get out of this alive, even Tony, who wasn't doing so good.

"Your brother is one attractive man but you, wow," Harry said with a smile as he took another step closer, sweeping his gaze up and down Loki's body, appreciating it fully.

Loki chuckled in amusement; he was smart enough to know exactly what Harry was doing, the young man had no subtlety at all. Though if luring him away from the Avengers by pretending to fall for the false flattery would work, then he was more than willing to reciprocate the flirting. From the dark, almost black hair and startling green eyes, Harry looked a lot like him and that was something Loki found very attractive in a person.

"Finally you find an ally with good taste, Thor, perhaps I underestimated you," Loki said, his eyes fixed on Harry as a sinister smile spread across his face. "Attractive too, though he looks rather familiar; perhaps I am being replaced with this younger, more innocent version. Should I be offended, brother?"

"I dunno, you seem to have worn your extra years well," Harry said, as though giving it serious thought. "Besides, Thor had nothing to do with my arrival here and my appearance is merely a bonus they get to experience. You could experience it too if you're up for it."

"What an intriguing thought," Loki said with a smile. "One we should explore," he added offering out his hand for Harry to take once again. Steve who had been tensed and on the verge of losing control with every flirtatious comment was barely able to stand it as Harry looked at the out stretched hand, clearly wondering whether or not to take it.

"Harry, this is insane, what are you doing!?" Steve said taking a step towards Harry, wanting to stop whatever his lover was doing. Whatever was going on he didn't like it and he had a feeling that it was going to end badly. He wanted Harry safe in his arms, not on the verge of going willingly with Loki.

"I'm doing the right thing," Harry said, trying to sound cold and detached but failing miserably. He didn't want to hurt Steve emotionally but he didn't want him to get physically hurt either. The less Steve felt towards him the better now because there was no way that he could stay here. "If you want to play, Loki, you're going to have to catch me first."

As Harry said this he had a glint in his eyes, George reacted first firing a stunning spell at Harry as he activated the portkey around his waist. Clint didn't really understand what this red-head was doing anymore than he understood the things that Harry could do, but he knew that Harry needed protecting from it, and so it was almost instinctive when he threw himself in Harry's direction, arms wrapping around the smaller man's waist and knocking him out of the way of the jet of red light.

Steve and Thor instantly both moved to try and protect Harry too, Jane having gone to help aid Tony, however the second that Clint and Harry touched the ground the pair of them vanished, as though they had never been there at all, and the backup lights sparked and crackled, before failing and plunging them into darkness once more. "HARRY!" Steve shouted.

"Damn it," George cursed, "He must have had a portkey," they heard him say in the darkness. The twilight was casting an eerie glow into the kitchen, dining area which made it extremely hard to see. Before the lights had gone out they had all seen Harry and Clint vanish from right before their eyes, they all knew that they were both gone.

"Take us after him," Loki demanded sounding enraged that Harry had been allowed to escape from them. He had been hoping for an easy extraction, it wasn't like he wanted to hurt him, he just needed the power sphere and Harry was the only one who would be able to gain access to it.

"He could be anywhere," George said defeatedly, "A portkey takes you wherever it is programmed to go. I could track it down but I would have to go to the Ministry of Magic and sift through all the paperwork and that's only if it was a registered portkey and he had permission to have it." Although he was trying to explain, George knew that the explanation would be a little lost on Loki, who didn't know all the ins and outs of the wizarding world just yet.

"What is a portkey?" Steve demanded rounding on George, needing answers, needing to know where Harry had gone. He was on the verge of panic, he didn't know how but Harry and Clint had just vanished and he wanted to know where they had gone. He wanted Harry back, not knowing where he was or if he was in trouble or not was causing him serious anxiety.

"We can track him down," George said to Loki, ignoring Steve completely. Whatever Harry was doing with Steve, it wasn't his business, he knew that Harry wasn't the type to settle down as, to his knowledge, Harry much prefered bed hopping. If this large, attractive man had fooled himself into thinking it was something more than that then more fool him.

"Then track him down!" Loki snarled, grabbing hold of George and at first Steve thought that he was going to hit him but then both Loki and George vanished with a loud crack, the air around them visibly crackling with magic. He was just glad that Harry had taken the time to explain these things to him rather than the two of them simply having more sex. He at least understood what had just happened, at least to some extent.

They were now completely without power, the back up generators having now failed miserably with the amount of magic coursing through the air. Steve had started pacing, running his hands through his hair in frustration and worry, trying to work out what to do next; he was more certain than ever that something was messing with his emotions because he had never felt as out of sorts as he did right in that moment. Thor was trying to calm him, but Bruce and Natasha were focused on Tony, who was barely breathing and glistening with sweat. His usually healthy looking skin was a sickly white and his hands were visibly shaking.

"Do you have another reactor?" Bruce demanded to know, doing what he could to keep Tony alive. They had had stay quiet before, not wanting to draw Loki's attention to them before and risk Loki finishing Tony off for good, but now that the God of Mischief was gone, they were going to do everything they could to keep Tony alive.

Tony nodded, his movements slow and pained as he tried to point towards the liquor cabinet. "Scotch," he gasped out, gesturing towards the bar, "top shelf, far end." The looks that he received from Natasha and Jane were priceless, if he hadn't have been dying then he would have wished that he had a camera to capture the moment.

Thor watched as Jane, Natasha and Bruce took care of Tony, not wanting to stray too far from Steve, concerned what the super soldier would do in the frantic state he had managed to work himself into since Harry had vanished right in front of them. Loss of a loved one, as he well knew, was devastating. They had no idea where Harry and Clint were or if they were even alive and Thor just didn't know how best to keep control of Steve when he was so close to losing it.

"Now is really not the time for a drink," Bruce said with exasperation and slight annoyance, ignoring Natasha as she hurried off in the direction Tony had pointed wanting to know if he really was suicidal and refusing to help or if there was a reason why he had requested that particular bottle. "Where's the reactor?" Bruce asked again, working on removing the now completely dead one imbedded in the Tony's chest.

He had to be careful, he didn't know the ins and outs of how the arc reactor worked but he knew without it in his chest, Tony would have only minutes to live. He was on the brink of passing out already so he knew he had to work quickly. Bruce was only thankful that he had taken some time to look into the technology keeping Tony alive, having found it fascinating, now he was finding it life savingly useful.

"Just tell him where the reactor is, Stark!" Steve shouted, losing his patience and his temper. He needed to figure out how he was going to find Harry, but he had no idea where to start and he was furious that Tony was wasting their time right now. He was angry at Harry too, they could have protected him, he didn't have to leave and certainly not without telling them where he was going. It was only fortunate that Clint had gone too, they might not have got on well but at least Clint would protect Harry.

Thor remained close, ready to stop him if Steve became too out of control. As it was he watched as Captain America strode across the room and slammed his fist into a wall, sending it straight through the plaster. The first time everyone turned to look to see what had happened, the second and third time however they just let him. None of them had realised the strength of Steve's feelings towards Harry but this was clearly affecting him more than was normal.

"Here," Tony said, his voice weak and shaky as he accepted the bottle Natasha had returned to his side holding; but rather than even trying to open it, he smashed it into the ground next to him. Jane jumped back, startled, not sure what he was doing but then realised what had been contained within.

"The reactor," Bruce said with understanding, as he saw what had been hidden inside the now destroyed bottle, quickly retrieving it from the shattered glass and puddle of amber coloured liquid. The reactor had been safely contained in a clear wrapper, which he hurriedly removed, feeling rather grateful that he knew what he was doing as he began to maneuver it into Tony's chest.

"Metal man, will you live?" Thor asked as he came forward, still keeping one eye on Steve who was still furiously trying to tear down the wall with his fists.

"Yes," Tony said as Bruce finished installing his new arc reactor. He was confused as to how the other had failed. He needed to find out because he needed to be sure that this one wouldn't do the same. He had had a few hidden around the areas he frequented most, just in case something like this happened and now he was glad that he did.

"We need to find them," Natasha said, casting a glance over to Steve, worried about him. She had never seen him like this before; they needed to talk to Fury or at least make him aware of the situation. They might need his help tracking Harry and Clint down, and he might at least have some idea where they had gone.

"Agreed," Bruce said, knowing exactly where her concerns lay. "I can handle Tony, perhaps you should alert Director Fury of this new development," Bruce suggested. He too thought that Nick needed to know what had just happened but he thought this because he thought that perhaps he might have some insight to the meeting that Harry had had that had encouraged him to open up to Steve. Steve, afterall, was not in any state to tell them anything, another thing that Fury might be able to help them with.

Natasha nodded, getting to her feet and heading for the stairwell. With the power offline it was the only way she was getting to Fury and it was a long way down.

-x

The second that Harry and Clint landed, Harry vomited, his stomach emptying their contents on to the ground. He had never been a fan of magical travel but over the years he had become more used to it and more graceful when he did it too. He had no idea why he had vomited but it made him feel a little lightheaded and entirely out of sorts, his stomach feeling tight and rather uncomfortable.

"You okay?" Clint grunted as he struggled to his feet, though it took him a few moments. He had been thrown by the sudden portkey and he had to take a minute to adjust himself to his new surroundings, unclear about how he had come to be there but knowing that protecting Harry was his priority.

They had landed somewhere familiar to Clint at least, they were under the cover of some trees and shrubbery, out of sight of anyone who might not have been as relaxed about seeing two people suddenly appearing out of nowhere. However Clint had recognised the place they were instantly as Washington Monument.

"Yeah," Harry said, still struggling a little bit but wanting to save face in front of Clint, "I'll be fine," he added as he wiped his mouth, the stale taste of bile lingering in his mouth. "You okay?" he asked a moment later realising that Clint might be more than a little shaken considering what he had just done.

"Fine," he said as he finally managed to stand steadily on his own two feet. Harry was still using Clint to brace himself on however, his stomach still feeling uncomfortably tight. "What just happened?"

"It's what my people call a portkey," Harry explained, now too taking a moment to look around and figure out where they had arrived. When the portkey had activated he had been thinking of this tall monument thing that he had always wanted to come and visit, not that he knew where that was, he just knew that it was in America.

"Your people?" Clint asked, a little confused. He wasn't entirely sure what a portkey was or who Harry was even, he just knew that he didn't ever want to experience something like that again. It was all getting too much for him, he just needed to know about the basics and then he would be satisfied to not know any more. Whatever Harry was had the potential to be dangerous, and the unknown bothered Clint more than he cared to admit.

"I'm a wizard," Harry told him, "I was going to tell you tonight, if Loki hadn't have shown up then I would have done." Thinking of what tonight should have been gave Harry a painful lurch in his chest, he had meant to tell the other Avenger's what he was and then spend the rest of the night with Steve, just being with him and now he had no idea how far apart they were or if they would ever see one another again.

"A wizard," Clint repeated, trying to take it all in. he was starting to think that maybe he was simply better off not knowing. Alien's attacking New York and now Wizards, it was all too much for him. A year ago he hadn't thought that there was anything beyond what he knew to be real, to be flesh and blood and now he was calling all of that into question.

"Yes but I can't explain here, we need to find somewhere to go, somewhere low key to hide," Harry said, thinking that being out in the open like that wasn't a great idea, not after what Loki had just done. Harry knew that both Loki and George would be looking for him, that was unavoidable and what he had wanted in order to get the two of them away from Steve and the other avengers, but now they just had to avoid being caught.

"I know where there's a safe house near by," Clint said, thinking of all the training he had been given by S.H.I.E.L.D.; he had been programmed to follow orders by them, they had trained him to fight. He knew things now that he could never have dreamed of before S.H.I.E.L.D. had become involved in his life, including a list of safe houses at his disposal whenever he needed to lie low for a while.

"You know where we are?" Harry questioned as Clint motioned in the direction they needed to travel and the two of them started walking.

"Washington Monument," Clint said, pointing at the tall white obelisk that towered above them as they came out of the undergrowth. Harry had not been paying too much attention to where they had landed before that, confused as to why they had landed where they had but now he understood. That had been the monument he had always wanted to see. it was a comfort to know that the portkey had worked.

"You are a man of few words, Clint, I like that," Harry said with a smile as they two of them continued to walk. Clint grunted in acknowledgement but kept going, not saying anything else. Harry had been right about one thing and that was that they needed to find cover and hide for a while, lay low until they knew Loki wasn't closing in on them.

-x

Four hours away in New York city, the Avengers had gathered in Avengers tower, Nick Fury stood before them all and a strange man, who looked a little like Fury, to his left. Tony had managed to give Bruce directions in order to get the basic systems in the tower operational, so they at least had security systems running and weren't sitting in the dark; Tony had wanted to do it himself but with having nearly died, the others were rather insistent that he didn't exert himself too much.

Pepper had been alerted to the situation but was yet to show up. After welcoming Harry to America she had had a meeting in California with some potential new clients for Stark Industries and hadn't been able to leave. When Happy had been in contact she had informed him that she would travel back in the morning.

They had also managed to calm Steve, something that had proved to be far more complicated than fixing the tower had been, and tend to the wounds he had inflicted upon himself. His knuckles and back of both his hands had been grazed and bloodied, though the wall had fared much worse; however, the serum would likely have the injuries healed in little time at all.

Jane was not present at this particular meeting, she had been escorted to Thor's level of Avenger tower and told to remain there. Coulson was keeping an eye on her just in case Loki decided to come back for whatever reason. She did not need to be present for this, this was something that they needed to discuss as a team.

Tony had insisted on being part of the meeting, not wanting to be left out. He was sat down, still looking a little worse for wear and in need of a good rest but he was a live at least and for that he was eternally grateful. Tony was under no delusion that if Harry hadn't left when he had then he might not be alive right now; he owed the man a debt.

"Do you know where they went?" Steve demanded to know. It was the only information that he could really bring himself to care about at the moment. He needed to know where he was and he needed to go and get him, make sure he was safe, it was all he could think about, all he really cared about.

"Not exactly," Fury said with a sigh, not really knowing where to start to explain this. In truth he thought that it might be for the best, considering everything, that Harry stay hidden, even from them for the time being. The way Steve had reacted had concerned him a little and he needed to talk to him about why.

"But Harry is perfectly capable of protecting himself, and will have gone somewhere safe," Kingsley assured them. He didn't know these people but he knew that Steve at the very least cared about Harry a great deal and he needed to make them all aware that Harry would not come to any harm.

"We don't even know who you are, and we are just supposed to believe you," Natasha asked accusingly. She disliked new people, especially strangers; Harry had been a stranger too but now he was one of them and she was concerned about what had happened to him as well as Clint. This person, however, he was not one of them and she didn't trust him at all.

It didn't help matters that Kingsley had not had time to change; he had taken an emergency portkey the second that he had heard from Nick and was still wearing his wizarding attire. His royal blue robes did nothing to allow him to blend into the crowd, but it was a miracle that he had managed to get away from the Ministry at all.

"You know Clint would be able to protect them both even if that wasn't true, Natasha," Bruce pointed out, thinking that a confrontation wouldn't help anything at the moment. They all needed answers, not to start bickering amongst themselves again.

"We should be with him," Steve said accusingly, looking at Kingsley as if he had done him some form of wrong. "You can bring him here or send me to him, you can do something!" he insisted and Kingsley looked at Steve with something akin to pity and sadness.

"I could possibly put a tracking spell on him but that would not give us his exact location, there are too many variables, being in the muggle world there is too much that can go wrong. Besides, Harry would magically shield himself against those kind of things to stop the enemy from tracking him the same way. Harry has worked for me for a long time, if he wants to hide then there will be no finding him, I am sorry."

"I believe that Harry was attempting to draw my brother away," Thor pointed out. "We have witnessed the great affection he has for you, Captain, and I believe this was for your protection and to save the life of the metal man."

"I was meant to protect him," Steve said angrily, "he shouldn't have had to protect me or any of us, we were all meant to protect him!" Steve was getting more and more frustrated by the second, he just wanted to know that Harry was safe and unharmed. For all they knew Loki could have followed and have both Harry and Clint right now. It was a thought that turned Steve's stomach.

"And the best way to do that right now, is to find out all we can about what Loki is doing, what he has planned, and who else he is working with," Fury said, trying to make Steve see reason. The other Avenger's would not fight him on this but he knew Steve would, there were other factors affecting Steve that needed to be addressed separately.

"You do whatever the hell you want, I'm going to find Harry," Steve said, getting to his feet, needing to be doing something. He felt utterly useless just sat here doing nothing but talking about it. He should be out there looking for Harry not sat here doing nothing.

"Search the world if you will, Mr Rogers, you will never find Harry until he wants to be found," Kingsley said, his words halting Steve's progression towards the door.

"I'll find him, he'd want to be found by me," Steve insisted, sure about this. He was sure that he was in love with Harry, despite only knowing him for a short while and he had to believe that Harry felt the same. Steve had to believe that Harry would want to be with him and wouldn't hide from him.

"I have known Harry since he was an eleven year old boy, I have watched him grow. I have seen him sacrifice himself several times over for the people that he loved. He has literally died to protect those he cared about. If the relationship is as strong as I think it is, between the two of you, then I doubt very much that Harry would reveal himself to you; he would sacrifice his happiness to keep you safe."

As Kingsley had spoken Steve had sunk to the ground feeling utterly broken, finally realising that he wasn't just going to get Harry back, there wouldn't be a quick fix here. This was going to be a full out war yet again, only this time Harry was the thing that the enemy wanted. It was someone Steve loved that the enemy wanted and to protect him, Steve would have to be away from him. The pain he felt as he realised this was unbearable, tearing him apart inside.

"I need him, I want him more than I've ever wanted anything and I know that isn't healthy but I can't stop feeling," Steve said sadly, feeling as pathetic as he sounded. The other avengers were looking at him, unsure what to do or how to help him. They wanted to be able to help him, to know what to do but they just didn't. It was feeling of utter hopelessness that none of them were accustomed to and they hated it, hated not knowing what to do and how to help.

"It's the serum," Fury said defeatedly. He had been concerned that this might happen. He had not had the chance to look into the affects the serum might have had on Steve. In most cases where it had been trialed the traits of the person injected were magnified. In red skull it had brought to the surface his psychotic tendencies, bringing them to the surface and amplifying them to the point that it had turned him into a psychotic killer.

In Steve, however, the serum had taken his loyalty, his love and affection and it had done exactly the same, magnifying it. His instinct to be a soldier and follow orders, his ability to love unconditionally and loyalty to those he cared about. When it came to Harry, the fondness and affection that he would have felt towards the other man after the three days they had known each other was amplified to the point that he loved him unconditionally.

"What do you mean it's the serum?" Bruce asked; he had been fascinated by the work that Dr Abraham Erskine had done on the serum and the affects that it had had on Steve. He had never seen anything that could turn what Steve had once been to what he was today and not have serious side effects, like what he was experiencing himself. However, this appeared to be the side effect, the weakness in otherwise impenetrable armour.

"Other's have had similar versions of the serum that Steve has had," Fury explained, his eyes never leaving the broken man that was kneeling on the floor looking utterly lost. "In each case it has taken the person that they were originally and just made it more. In Steve he had heart ,bravery and loyalty, the serum gave him the body to match his heart. His ability to love and the loyalty he feels to lose that he cares about has also been amplified. He truly does love Harry."

"Harry won't feel the same though," Natasha said bluntly, knowing that Steve's love for the new team member could be as strong as it liked for whatever reasons but that wouldn't change the fact that Harry's emotions would not be affected by anything and would be the same as anyone elses.

"Not necessarily," Kingsley said kindly. "He is a broken man; the war he fought in and the years that followed changed him. He lost many that he loved and he became guarded. I watched him almost destroy himself, I can see that he needs Steve just as much as Steve needs him, even if Harry doesn't realise it yet."

"That's why you gave him permission to tell me everything," Steve said, looking up at Kingsley now, he seemed so lost and so sad, like he didn't know what to do. The one thing that he did know however was that this man, he knew Harry, had known him for a long while now and he could help to find him, to bring him back and to keep him safe.

"Yes," Kingsley said, "if I did not think that you would be part of Harry's world long after this battle is done then I would not have permitted him to tell you without repercussions."

"What about the rest of us, do we get to know?" Tony asked, thinking that they all at least deserved to know something about what Harry was. Afterall they were meant to be a team, they were meant to trust each other and fight together to save the world and all the jazz.

"I can allow for you to be told the basic's but I think that perhaps it would be for the best if our world remained something of a mystery to you. The rules are in place to keep us all safe, having our two worlds collide would not end well," Kingsley explained before turning back to Steve. "I'm sorry to pry, but I need to ask you a very personal question. We could discuss it somewhere more private if you would rather."

"No, it's fine," Steve said, his mind and heart still aching with the pain of Harry's absence. He wasn't even sure he had the energy to move at the moment anyway. "If it's important then they probably need to know as well," he added, gesturing at his teammates.

"I assume the two of you were sleeping together, am I correct?" Kingsley asked, watching Steve carefully. When he had sent Harry here he had hoped that maybe he might find someone who appreciated him for him and give him exactly what he needed.

"I can vouch for the fact that they were," Tony said, a smirk on his face as he raised his hand. He just shrugged unapologetically when Steve managed a weak glare in his direction. Tony really did not care how Steve felt about the fact he had watched them, though Tony would never admit that he had watched it a few times since and found a lot of pleasure in it.

"With or without protection?" Kingsley went on, taking what Tony had said on board but keeping his gaze fixed firmly on Steve, watching him carefully. He too had read the files on the team, he wouldn't have sent Harry here without first familiarising himself with the people he would be spending time with. Harry was too valuable for such silly oversights.

He knew of the serum that had altered Steve's genetic code and made his emotions somewhat exaggerated and Kingsley had the same morbid fascination about the combination of serum, which was a modern day invention, with magic, something very old and traditional. He wondered what the result would be when two very powerful people, though in very different ways, came together in this manner.

"That IS personal," Steve said, glaring at the wizard, not really happy about being asked to share even more details of his private life, but when Kingsley continued to look at him, waiting patiently, he sighed and answered the question, though somewhat begrudgingly, "without."

"That is interesting," Kingsley said, giving the Captain a grateful nod for being so forthright. Harry might have had a reputation for being promiscuous but Kingsley also knew the man was cautious, overly so in fact. The lack of protection used between him and his new lover said a great deal about the trust that Harry was placing in Steve's hands. "Perhaps I should not have given him a portkey after all," he added quietly, mostly to himself, though in truth he understood that things could have been far worse, had Harry not had the means to escape.

"Glad that we can be so fascinating to you," Steve snarled, feeling a little like he was being treated like a lab rat again; sure, last time that had worked out mostly in his favour, but he still didn't appreciate it, certain not at the moment. He could take a lot without batting an eyelash but when it came to Harry his patience and tolerance would not last long, especially not if people were set on attacking him.

"I do apologise," Kingsley said softly, smiling a little, "I do not mean to pry, but the questions were important for me to know; it will help me to better protect Harry when we do find him." Kingsley was not sure of the extent Harry had explained their world to Steve but he didn't want to put his foot in it when he couldn't know for sure what Steve knew was possible and what he was still in the dark about. Muggle's were strange when it came to what they could accept and what they couldn't.

"What do you mean, how can knowing if we used protection when we slept together going to help you protect him when we find him?" Steve demanded to know, finding the knowing smile on Kingsley's lips rather infuriating. There were so many things running through his mind that he honestly didn't know what to think any more, the only thing that he knew for certain was that he needed to know that Harry was safe.

"That would be better coming from Harry if it happens, it is possible it hasn't but I had to ask," Kingsley said somewhat mysteriously, he and Nick had a lot in common it seemed, they both liked to be annoyingly mysterious. "However I must now take my leave, Nicky, I trust you can inform your agents of what they need to know of my world."

"Yes," Nick said unhappily, glowering at his brother, hating him for the use of his pet name for him. Tony couldn't help himself and sniggered when he heard what Kingsley had called Director Fury, though even Bruce, Thor and Natasha were looking slightly amused by it.

"I won't use the portkey here, I think using any magic around Mr Stark right now would be detrimental to his health. Though I will bid you all farewell, for now," Kingsley said giving the room an elaborate bow before heading for the door, his midnight blue robes swishing out behind them.

"British people are way weirder than I thought they would be," Tony said with an amused smile as they watched the man leave. Harry had been odd all on his own but when compared with the likes of Kingsley Shacklebolt he was downright normal.

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><p>What do you think? This chapter wasn't too evil, only a little bit. Leave me a review and let me know what you think.<p> 


	11. Safe House

The Affliction of War

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><p>Thank you so much for the amazing reviews, comments and continued support for this story. I love you guys so much for the feedback you've been giving me. I hope you enjoy this chapter.<p>

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><p>Chapter Eleven - Safe House<p>

S.H.I.E.L.D was a large organization and there were a lot of various elements to it and Fury oversaw a lot of that himself. This was why, when one of the known safe houses activated, Fury was alerted immediately. By this time, however, Tony was in bed, resting, Natasha and Bruce were working out a strategy on how to find Loki, and Steve had gone back to his room, determined to let off some steam and distract himself from knowing that there was nothing he could do to help Harry right now.

Thor had taken Jane home. She would be of no use to them in battle and he didn't want her to get hurt. This was the best he could do to keep her out of the line of fire; she had been a little shaken up with what had happened and was only starting to fully grasp the concept that there was so much more out there than just aliens.

Fury had taken the helicopter from New York to Washington the moment the unauthorized presence had been located in one of the safe houses, accessed with a code that Hawkeye had been given. He hadn't told any of the others that he was leaving, thinking that it was for the best they didn't know for the moment, at least until he had spoken with Clint and Harry, not with the way Steve was currently acting.

He was a little surprised that the two of them were still in America, having half expected for Harry to have taken the portkey back to England. Though when he thought about the way Steve was acting it made sense that Harry had wanted to stay where he was close to Steve. Also being back in England put him closer to the Sphere and that was something they needed to avoid. Fury commended Harry for the fact he had stayed somewhere that wasn't his comfort zone, doing the right thing.

However Fury wasn't sure who to trust to take with him as backup, and so after taking the helicopter back to the Triskelion, he took one of the cars and drove himself off in the direction of the safe house.

All looked quiet in the suburban neighbourhood, as he pulled his car up in front of the detached house, which was more or less identical to the others which lined the road. He waited for a few minutes, but it was the early hours of the morning, and he didn't see so much as a twitching curtain.

He knew exactly where he was going, his footsteps didn't falter as he headed for the concealed entrance. The safe house in question was in the basement of a well kept house that was usually let out to undercover agents, posing as families; an empty house would have stood out more than they wanted it to. The lower ground was sealed off to anyone who didn't have a unique code to access it. The door itself was down several worn stone steps that were concealed with a lot of foliage. Unless you knew what you were looking for it was unlikely that it would ever be found.

The night was silent as Fury took the steps carefully and silently, his gun drawn just in case. He knew that it was foolish to come here with no back up and no one knowing where he had gone or why but this was of the highest security and he just couldn't risk it.

Typing in the numeric code to open the door Fury braced himself for a fight, unsure what he was about to face when he walked in. What he hadn't been expecting was to hear a voice yell "Everte Statum" and for a jet of light to hit him squarely in the chest and to fly backwards into the brick wall behind him, winding him for a moment.

"Harry, don't, it's Fury," Clint said as he realised who it was that they were fighting against. He quickly came forward to help a now rather dazed Nick up and on to his feet. "Sir, you okay?"

"Fine, though I could have done without the collision with that wall," Nick said with slight annoyance, glaring at Harry as he said this. He couldn't seriously begrudge the young man using his talents to protect himself and Clint but that didn't mean he liked being on the receiving end of it. His brother had used a fair few spells on him in their youth and he hadn't liked that much either, it was how he had come to lose his eye.

"Sorry, but in my defence you could have been Loki," Harry said with an unapologetic shrug, before coming suddenly more serious. He had been unable to sleep so far this evening, his mind racing with thoughts of Steve and the others, wondering if they were alright and if Tony had survived or not. "Have you spoken with the other avengers? Is Steve okay? Is Tony?"

"Tony is alive," Fury confirmed, "but maybe we should move this into the other room." He was still a little shaken from whatever spell Harry had thrown at him, and knew that Harry was unlikely to react well to the news of the Captain. This was not a conversation that could be had without privacy, whether it was the middle of the night or not, there could always be someone listening.

"But Steve isn't okay?" Harry asked, following close on Nick's heels as the man walked down the corridor, and into the living area of the safe house. Clint lingered behind, making sure no one had seen them before shutting the door and sealing them inside.

"He's alive and uninjured," Nick assured him, wanting to make this clear first, taking a seat and fixing Clint and Harry both with firm looks as they join him in the room, though neither of them sat down; Clint always prefered to be ready to move and Harry just seemed too on edge to relax at all.

"That bad?" the young wizard asked, a look of horror on his face. He had left to protect Steve, knowing that it was going to hurt him emotionally at least a bit, but he still cared about him a great deal. He had never wanted him to suffer in anyway.

"He is not coping well," Nick admitted. "The serum is… complicating matters. He isn't going to stop trying to find you."

"He'll get over me, I'm not that special, he'll have to get over me eventually because I can't go back," Harry said, shaking his head stubbornly. "They can't know where we are, it's too dangerous."

"I am aware of this, but it isn't as simple as he'll get over you," Fury told him with a frown. "He is truly in love with you, the serum intensifying his feelings and it is making him reckless." He needed for Harry to know this, to understand the seriousness of the situation. He could see the low self-esteem in the young man and didn't care for it one bit. He needed to realise just how important he was to Steve before anyone got hurt.

"Then tell him that I'm dead," Harry said, his heart breaking a little as he said the words. He didn't want for Steve to think that he was dead but if he was getting reckless and putting his life on the line then Harry would do what needed to be done to keep him safe.

"You can't do that to him," Clint said, glaring at Harry. He didn't care how much of a noble deed it was for Harry to walk away from Steve, something that would maybe even save his life, it wasn't just Harry's decision to make and it certainly wasn't fair on Steve.

"Clint is right, we are past that now, if he thought you were dead he would hunt Loki down whatever the cost and kill him or die trying," Fury said with a frown. "I understand why you cannot go back or tell him where you are, however give him hope."

"How do I do that?" Harry asked with a sigh. "I can't see him, how am I meant to give him hope?" Harry was at a complete loss of what to do, he cared for Steve so much but he certainly didn't love him, it was too early for that. If what Fury was telling him was the truth though then he owed Steve something, anything, he just didn't know what.

"Write him a letter," Clint suggested, "it might be enough for him to focus his energies if he has something to aim for, something like getting you back." He cared very little for the romance between the two of them but he needed his team together and thinking straight so that they could finish this with Loki and get back to their regular lives.

"A letter?" Harry asked incredulously. "What am I supposed to say? Sorry I made you fall in love with me in just three days and then vanished, literally, but I had to so that the psychopath wouldn't kill us all? Best wishes, Harry. P.S. Chin up." He had never been very good at baring his feelings to those that needed to see them. Expressing them verbally was useless, writing them down seemed even worse.

"Perhaps something more… romantic," Fury suggested with exasperation. Harry truly was like no other agent he had ever come across. There was fire and passion in everything he did, loyalty and bravery were all there along with a strong urge to do the right thing. However the wizarding war and the job Harry had taken after that had damaged him beyond comprehension.

Nick saw it a lot in his own agents. It was at this stage that he would have suggested retirement or if that was not an option, then vacation for a while to recover. It looked to Fury as if Harry had not taken a break from work for a very long time. Nick was starting to understand why it was his brother had sent Harry here instead of simply telling him the truth.

"I don't really do romance," Harry said, screwing up his face in distaste. Anything lovey dovey to him was beyond him. He had of course seen Ron and Hermione show affection and be romantic but it was not something he had ever been very good at himself.

"No, you do fucking him," Clint said bitterly, as he went to a desk at the side of a room, grabbing a pen and paper. "Just write the damned note," he said, forcing them into Harry's hands. Harry sighed, but sat down and pulled a side table in front of him to lean on, as he tried to figure out what in Merlin's name he was going to say.

-x

Steve didn't sleep at all that night. He stayed in the workout room, having fixed his punching bag. He hit it until his hands bled and then kept going. The pain hadn't bothered him, he had just kept going, one punch after the other until, in the early hours of the morning, he had collapsed to his knees and allowed his emotions to wash over him and he cried.

This was the way Fury found him when dawn broke. He wasn't sure what to do with Steve, the man was utterly broken and he needed the hope that Fury held in his pocket. "On your feet, Captain," he ordered, and though it wasn't quite as effective as he had hoped, the man did at least turn to look at him from where he was knelt on the floor.

"What for?" Steve asked, his voice gruff and hopeless. He felt completely lost, unsure what to do with himself, and never before had an order felt so difficult to comply with.

Fury huffed in frustration, taking hold of Steve's arm, and all but pulling the larger man to his feet, before pushing him in the direction of the bathroom. "Shower, get changed, bandage up those hands and then we will talk," he instructed firmly, knowing that giving the Captain options at the moment wasn't going to make anything happen in a hurry.

Steve glared at him for a moment, but then seemed to give up his defiance, heading in the direction of the bathroom willingly, Fury took a seat and began to wait patiently for the man to shower and tend to his hands. Only once Steve was done did the two of them move to the sitting room so that they could have a discussion.

Without saying anything Fury removed the note that Harry had written from his pocket and handed it to Steve. No words were needed from him as he handed it over. "What is this?" Steve asked as he accepted the piece of paper, looking at it in confusion.

"Read it," Fury instructed. Steve looked very confused, unfolding the note and then almost dropping it when he saw Harry's name signed at the bottom of it. Whatever had been expecting this was not it.

"You found him?" Steve asked, a hopeful expression on his face, looking at Fury before he even read the letter. "How…? Where is he? Is he safe, can I see him?"

"Read the note," Fury said again, this time getting up from where he had been sitting, knowing that Steve wasn't going to focus on the letter until he was out of the room. Steve would need some privacy for this anyway. "I need to speak with Agent Romanoff, I will meet you on the communal floor when you are done."

Steve didn't say anything as Fury left the room, his entire focus was on the single sheet of paper than he was holding in his hand. There were only two paragraphs of scruffily scrawled words, and he already knew that it wasn't going to be enough, no matter what Harry had to say, and he found himself almost fearful to read it. But he had to know, what it said, and so he made himself start to read.

Steve,

I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave but I knew if I didn't then Tony was going to die. I just wanted to keep you and the other Avenger's safe. Loki wants me, last night he tried to make me go with him willingly, it won't take him long to figure out that killing me will drop the protective enchantments just as easily as if I took them off willingly. While I was there with you, you were a target as well and I didn't want any of you to get hurt because of me.

I know you'll want to try and find me but I'm asking you not to, it is best for everyone that you don't. You cannot know where I am and I cannot come back, not yet. I am safe here, as is Clint, we will take advantage of this and train so that we are ready for the fight when it comes. Until then I need you to be the Captain, to keep working against Loki so that we can get rid of him and I can see you again. Until that happens, please take care of yourself and I just hope that when I see you again you can forgive me for hurting you like this. Again, I am sorry.

Always, forever… plus a day

Harry.

-x

Natasha, Bruce, Tony and Thor gathered in the communal area with Fury, while they were waiting for Steve to join them; Fury had mentioned the letter from Harry, and so they understood that the captain was going to be a little while. Fury took the time to inform them all that both Harry and Clint were safe, hidden away from the world and would be staying that way for the moment.

There was nothing to be done about that for the time being really and so they got to discussing what they were going to do about Loki; that was the only way they were going to be able to get Clint and Harry back. Harry would be in even more serious danger once Loki realised that killing him would be quicker and easier than convincing him to hand over the sphere and so no-one was being told the location of the two men. Fury had been unsure about even telling them as much as he had, but knew that it was the kind of information that the team needed, to be able to do what they needed to do.

"I am fairly sure that I can confirm that what Jane told us to be true," Bruce said, and Natasha who was sat next to him, and had been helping him with his research, nodded her head in confirmation. There did indeed seem to be eight of them, just as she had described, and the text Jane had recommended before leaving had proved highly useful; however, locating them all was going to prove a little more tricky.

They didn't have much to go on, given the references to the devices were so few and far between, but they started work on the near impossible task of tracking down the remaining seven, in the hopes of figuring out how close Loki was to having the complete set and to see if they would be able to hinder his progress any by taking one for themselves.

"A few of them, we have at least approximate locations in terms of part of the world," Natasha explained; this much they had been able to work out from the ancient references, simply by where abouts in the world they originated, but it was an educated guess at best, as was going to take a lot of following up on.

It had been the best part of an hour before Steve reappeared, and Fury was relieved to see that the note from Harry seemed to have done what he had intended it to. Steve seemed a lot more together and certainly more focused, ready to take on whatever he had to do. If anything Steve seemed to be a little too focused, wanting nothing more than to destroy the God of Mischief and get his boyfriend back.

-x

Two weeks past with the Avengers searching for the seven lost sphere's. Steve, Natasha, Thor and sometimes Tony had travelled all over the world, only to find that Loki had beaten them to most of them. Steve, particularly, had thrown himself into the missions eagerly and there were now only two left but they were proving the most difficult to locate, they hadn't been able to find any sign of them at all. They could only hope that Loki was having just as much difficulty as they were.

Harry and Clint had not returned to Avenger's tower, as they had said they wouldn't, and in fact had even managed to maintain complete radio silence with the others too. They had not wanted to risk being tracked down, so had instead remaining safely concealed away in the safe house, unknown to everyone but Fury. The two of them were getting a little sick of one another's company if they were honest but at least they were getting on a little better.

The two of them had spent the time training endlessly and swapping war stories in their down time. They now knew more about one another than they thought they would ever share but it was nice and they were almost friends now. They were both a little desperate to leave however, being cooped up in the safe house was not ideal for either of them. Neither Harry nor Clint were accustomed to hiding from their enemies.

"You alright?" Clint asked; he had been woken up by the sound of Harry vomiting and had quickly come to investigate. He'd found Harry with his head down the toilet, retching and vomiting, a layer of sweat on his face, hands shaking violently.

"Yeah," Harry said weakly. "Food poisoning maybe," Harry suggested, sitting back and flushing away the contents of the toilet that had been filling the room with the sickly sweet stench.

"We eat the same food and I'm fine," Clint said, eyeing Harry with concern. He had been looking a little pale and out of sorts the last couple of days but this was the first time that he had seemed at all unwell. "A stomach bug?" Clint suggested, causing Harry to glare at him.

"I don't get sick, I never have," Harry said stubbornly as another wave of nausea hit him and he rushed to get his head back over the toilet and heaved, though nothing came up this time, his stomach empty and contracting painfully as yellow bile dropped from his mouth into the toilet.

"First time for everything," Clint said with a sigh, moving around Harry and filling a glass with water from the bathroom sink, offering it to Harry where he sat on the floor, breathing heavily. "Perhaps a S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor…"

"No," Harry said at once. "A regular doctor wouldn't be able to help, I'm not a regular person remember, they'd figure out I was different, I can't risk that."

"Then someone from your world?" Clint said, thinking that if Harry never got sick then it was something to be concerned about. He didn't want Harry getting so ill that he couldn't defend himself if it came down to it. They were safe for the moment but neither of them had really relaxed in the two weeks they had been here. Both too on edge to believe they were truly safe from harm.

"We'd have to come out of hiding," Harry said, not exactly hating this idea. "I'll be fine," he said with a sigh. He didn't want to blow their cover because he couldn't handle a stomach bug.

"I am not against that," Clint said as he watched Harry take a sip of the water he had been given. He was rather sick of being cooped up in this little underground safe house, he needed to be outside, he wanted to be with the rest of the team and Harry needed to be back with Steve; it was clear to Clint that Harry was missing Steve desperately.

"We'll give it a couple more days and see," Harry said wanting to put Clint's mind at ease. In truth he had no clue what was wrong with him and all sorts of possibilities had crossed his mind. The most ridiculous had been that he might be pregnant, it was ridiculous because despite it being possible it was extremely rare and even he couldn't be that unlucky.

Hermione had given him that particular talk when she had found out about his promiscuous behaviour but Harry had laughed it off. Besides, it shouldn't have been possible considering Steve was a muggle and they'd only slept together a handful of times. It was something Harry had very quickly ruled out, even if there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind that just wouldn't go away.

"If you're not improving by tomorrow evening I'm contacting Fury," Clint said in all seriousness, he wasn't going to just let Harry suffer, not when he clearly needed help. "Breakfast?"

"Merlin, no!" Harry said as he almost dropped his glass of water and threw up what he had just drank into the toilet at the mention of food.

"Suit yourself," Clint said with a sigh, going to see what he could find to satisfy his own hunger and also to contact Fury. He didn't care what Harry had said or what he had said to Harry, something was wrong and it needed to be fixed.

-x

"Fury," Nick said as he pressed the answer button on his office phone, putting it on speaker. His office in Avenger's tower was one of high security, no cameras, no microphones, nothing would work in that regard inside these four walls, everything had been specially designed for the highest of privacy. Partly this was for safety and partly because he hated holding handsets to his ear.

"Director, it's Barton," Clint said down the phone. It had been a few days since he had been in contact with Fury and it had had the Director a little concerned. He had Clint and Harry checking in every three to four days just to make sure they were alright. If he didn't hear from them then he would have sent out a team of agents to check on them.

""Update report?" Fury asked but instantly regretted this as the door to his office burst open and Steve came in looking a little stressed.

"We're still concealed and safe but Harry is sick," Clint said and at once Steve froze. "He's been vomiting the last two days and he can't keep any food down, he doesn't believe that a regular doctor would be able to see him."

"Let me talk to him," Steve burst out before Fury had a chance to say anything.

"Rogers?" Clint asked in surprise, "Sir, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine, Barton, you weren't to know," Fury said, glowering at Steve, not appreciating the fact that he hadn't knocked before entering. He was wishing that he had taken the moment to lock the door. For all the high tech security features that ensured privacy it meant nothing if he just left the door unlocked.

"Let me talk to Harry," Steve demanded again, wanting to hear his voice. "Is he sick? What's going on? How long have you been talking to them?"

"Harry can't come to the phone right now, he's currently puking his guts up," Clint said impatiently; he had very little time for Steve acting like a love sick puppy when he had a genuine emergency with Harry unable to keep his food down at all.

"Tell me where you are, I'm going to come to him then," Steve said, looking at Fury in frustration. He wasn't going to be taking no for an answer, he wanted to be with Harry, whatever it took.

"Director, Sir, if I may… I would like to suggest that Roger's takes my place," Clint suggested, thinking that he could do with some time out of the safe house. He had been talking to Harry about Natasha a lot in their confinement and he actually felt as if he needed to see her.

"Yes!" Steve agreed, rather more enthusiastically than he had intended, actually blushing a little when Fury gave him a far too knowing look. "Sorry, sir, I just think it's a good idea," he said a bit more calmly.

"I will send for the helicopter, Barton, and I'll escort Steve to your location myself; the fewer people who know about Harry's location the better. Be ready at midday," Fury instructed, ending the call and looking at Steve. "Are you prepared for this? You will not be able to leave, not for any reason."

"I understand that, Sir," Steve said with certainty. He didn't care if he was never permitted to leave that safe house again as long as he was with Harry. Fury nodded, knowing that Steve needed this, he had been hell bent on finding the sphere's since the morning after Harry had disappeared. It was due to him that they had managed to find four of the seven that they had needed to locate.

Even though they could have used him to track down the others Fury knew that putting Steve with Harry was the best move to make at this stage of the game. If Harry's health was failing then he would need someone to take care of him and Nick could think of no one better than Steve.

"I will need to alert his people of his illness so that they can advise on what to do, be ready to leave in an hour," Fury said and Steve nodded before turning to leave. "Roger's," Fury said, barking out his name, "Why did you come here, I assume you had something to tell me."

"Yes Sir, we identified a possible location for the sixth sphere," Steve said. "Thor and Natasha left to fetch it, we believe that Loki has not been able to retrieve this particular one, we're ahead of him."

-x

"Why did you do that? I'm fine!" Harry shouted at Clint, furious that he had gone to Fury. "I didn't want Steve here, he won't be safe here." Despite missing Steve desperately he knew that it was for the best that they were apart, especially now he wasn't feeling great. Steve was a good man but his attentions were better spent elsewhere where he could be useful.

"And I am?" Clint said a little harshly; he and Harry had become friends in the two weeks that they had spent together but that didn't mean they saw eye to eye on everything. They still had their moments of disagreeing with one another, clearly this was going to be one of those occasions.

"You don't love me!" Harry snapped, thinking that having Clint here was actually rather nice, whereas having Steve here could put something of a strain on their relationship. Harry had been hoping that the time apart from Steve would help the older man get a little more in control of his serum, he didn't know how he would react now.

"Damn straight I don't, you're a pain in my ass," Clint said harshly, though Harry didn't miss the affection in his tone. Clint would often refer to Harry in this way but it was not without fondness when he did.

"I'm the pain the arse? You're the one going around telling tales to Fury," Harry retaliated, almost childishly so, crossing his arms over his chest and trying very hard not to pout. He knew why Clint had done what he had but that didn't mean that Harry had to appreciate it.

"You're sick!" Clint said firmly. "You need help! Maybe you will actually listen when Rogers tells you this, though I'm not going to hold my breath," Clint said defensively, though he didn't see why he had to be so defensive. After all, he was trying to help Harry and telling Fury had not been intended to get him into trouble. He hadn't even expected it to bring Steve here, though he was rather glad that he had the chance to leave.

"I don't think I'm sick!" Harry said with a resounding sigh. Since throwing up the entire contents of his stomach this morning as well as the morning before there had been a lot of thoughts going round and round in his head and he couldn't seem to shake them. Harry was used to trusting his gut instincts and in this instance he had been trying to ignore them, which was stupid seeing as his instincts had never let him down before.

"Of course you're sick, you've been unable to keep your food down for days!" Clint argued, frustrated that Harry was still trying to deny the obvious. He had never known anyone as stubborn as him, not even Natasha and that was saying something.

"I don't think I'm sick, Clint," Harry snapped in annoyance, hating that Steve was not the first person he was going to tell, "I think I'm pregnant, that's why I don't want Steve here!" Harry was furious, not at anyone in particular, just at the situation in general. When he had come here, to America, he had been happy knowing that this might be his last mission, that he might find some form of piece in it and he could pass on to the next life and be with his family again.

Now, Harry had something that was worth living for, the chance at a life and a relationship and even the possibility of children. He now didn't want to die at all, he wanted to live, desperately so. He was close to tears as he sank down on to the sofa, head in his hands, anger, confusion and sorrow washing over him.

"It's impossible, you're a guy!" Clint said, staring at Harry in disbelief. He knew that Harry was odd and that he came from a strange world that he could only just start to comprehend but this… the thought was a little unnerving for Clint who had never thought about it being possible before now.

"No, I'm a wizard and it's unlikely, not impossible," Harry corrected with a tired sigh. His stomach was still feeling a little uneasy and he felt utterly drained and more than that, he was absolutely famished. He had never been a big eater but currently he felt as if he could eat the entire Hogwarts start of term feast all to himself.

"Oh," Clint said, his eyes wide as he too sat down beside Harry, trying to process this new piece of information. He was trying to think about how that would work but his mind just couldn't process the possibility of it.

"Yes, oh," Harry said, not really having meant to voice his fears out loud, he hadn't really been acknowledging them to himself, let alone feeling ready to talk to anyone else about it. However, he was almost glad that he told Clint first; he had spent three days with the other Avengers, even though he had been intimately close to Steve, but he had spent two whole weeks with Clint, just talking and training; he was closer to Clint than anyone.

"You're sure… I mean, you're a guy, you have guy parts… I'm guessing… how is it going to… you know…" Clint asked, needing for Harry to explain this because it was the part that he was truly struggling to come to terms with. All he could think about was a baby coming out of his personal area, front or back, either way it was not pretty to imagine.

"I have no idea, kinda new to me too," Harry said with a small laugh, loving the horrified expression on Clint's face as he had asked that question.

"Congratulations?" Clint said, knowing that this was the appropriate thing to say when a woman announce her pregnancy but not sure if it was customary when the one pregnant was a male. Poot Clint was rather confused as to what to say or even what to think about it.

"Not quite, I might be wrong, it's highly unlikely, which is why you don't say anything to anyone, especially not Steve," Harry said, still clinging to the small hope that he wasn't. Any other occasion and he would have been thrilled but this was not the best of timings, not when he was a target in Loki's plans to gain more power.

"I am not being the one to break the news, don't you worry," Clint said with a snort of amusement. He had seen the level of Steve's affection and that was when it was just Harry, he was certainly not going to be the one to inform the super soldier that he was going to be a Daddy.

"You think he'll take it badly?" Harry asked, suddenly concerned. He had been so concerned with worrying about himself, how he was going to cope and protecting his unborn child, to really consider how Steve might react to this news and now he was terrified of what the super soldier's reaction might be.

"He was a ninety year old virgin when he met you, what do you think?" Clint asked in amusement. He had to admit that he had felt a little sorry for Steve on that front; however, from what Tony had shared with them, Clint could think of no better person to activate Steve sexually. It sounded like Harry was quite something else in the bedroom, or so Tony had told him.

"That he loves me," Harry said hopefully but knowing that this would not be the reaction that Steve would have the moment he found out he was going to be a father. Harry was trying to deny that it was possible still but a small part of his subconscious had accepted it and genuinely wanted this, wanted for it to be true. He was already thinking along the terms of his future with his child as if it was already a certainty.

"Yeah, and you think that this will make him less obsessed and possessive?" Clint asked sceptically. Steve was a loyal man, he did what was right without question, his devotion to Harry made that clear, Clint doubted that this love and devotion would lessen any when he found out.

"Oh Merlin, I am so screwed," Harry said, throwing himself back and glaring at the ceiling. He had missed Steve and despite initially being angry with Clint about telling Fury and for offering to trade places with Steve, he was looking forward to seeing him again. He had thought about him constantly for the two weeks that they had been apart and even though Harry had known that it was for the best it hadn't made it any easier to accept that they were apart.

-x

Steve was a ball of anxiety and nerves as he and Fury climbed into the black SUV having landed in Washington moments before. He was excited to see Harry again after their separation, his hands physically shaking with the nerves and adrenaline.

"I will take you inside and extract Barton," Fury was explaining to him. "Food and supplies are delivered to the building once a week. Everything you need is there, you must not leave the safe house. If something happens then you contact me directly."

"I understand, Sir," Steve said, nodding his head in confirmation. He had brought two bags of things, one filled with Harry's belongings, the other filled with his. He had tried to think rationally when he had thrown everything together but he wasn't entirely sure what they had ended up in but he knew that Harry would appreciate having his own clothes.

"Harry will be your responsibility," Fury warned. "You will need to monitor his health and make sure whatever is ailing him isn't anything serious."

"I know," Steve said as he gazed out of the window, trying to distract himself in any way possible. His stomach was tying itself in knots at the thought that in a few moments he was going to be seeing Harry again.

"He will be pleased to see you," Fury said when he realised where Steve's head was at and it wasn't with what he was saying.

"I hope so," Steve said, continuing to gaze out of the window, deep in thought, "how, long until we get there?" he asked as they sped by a multitude of identical looking suburban houses. They were homes that everyone dreamed of owning, raising their families in, they were beautiful and something so far from Steve's grasp that it pained him. He would never have a normal life, from the moment he had been injected with the serum had he ever been normal.

"Five minutes," Fury said as he put his foot on the accelerator, grateful that there were very few cars out on the road, at least in this part of town. Nick was keen to check on Harry too, wanting to make sure that he was alright. After the cryptic questions his brother had asked, he was curious as to what he had been getting at.

* * *

><p>What do you think? After two weeks apart the reunion between Steve and Harry is going to be smutty! I will of course en-devour to get that chapter up as quickly as possible but in the mean time why not leave a review for me and let me know what you thought of this chapter.<p> 


	12. Reunion

The Affliction of War

Note: Harry didn't use protection because he didn't think that he could get pregnant from a muggle. He's also resistant to regular diseases as a wizard, plus Steve was a virgin so he wasn't really worrying about anything like that when they slept together.

* * *

><p>Chapter Twelve - Reunion<p>

Parking the car three houses down Fury and Steve walked the last few meters to the safe house, Nick leading the way as Steve had no idea where he was going. The street looked like any other suburban street, nothing peculiar here, just a few mothers pushing their children in prams and tending to their gardens while their husbands were at work. It all seemed so blissfully normal.

"This way," Fury said as he went through a side gate and onto a property that blended in beautifully with the rest of the street, it's garden beautifully maintained. There were no people in sight however and no one tried to stop them as they headed towards the rear of the property.

Steve followed wordlessly as Fury headed towards some foliage and he didn't question it when the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D disappeared into the bushes, instead following without hesitation and finding worn stone steps that Fury was already most of the way down.

"They've been here all this time?" Steve asked, finding that he was a little jealous of this fact, "Just the two of them?" Nick gave Steve a firm look, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He didn't think that Clint exactly swung that way and thought that Steve's reaction was a little unjustified.

"I would think you might trust someone you claim to love so much a little more than that, Captain," Fury said a little tiredly as he entered in the number on the keypad, hearing the locks click open.

"It's not Harry I don't trust," Steve said bitterly as they entered the building. A moment later, before he had really registered what was going on someone collided with him, arms around his waist, hugging him for all he was worth. "Harry," Steve said with relief, realising that the person now wrapped around him was the one he had been dying to see for the past two weeks.

"I missed you," Harry said earnestly, as he felt Steve's arms wrap around him and hold him close. Fury moved around them and found Clint in the sitting room, ready to leave.

"They at it already?" Clint asked when he spotted Fury, who nodded, remaining silent. "God, if we leave them here they're never going to stop."

"I think that was perhaps the reason Roger's volunteered to take your place," Nick said, slightly amused by the situation, though keen to leave. He really didn't want to risk drawing attention to their location if he could avoid it.

Clint scrunched up his nose but nodded at that. "Should we get going?" he asked. After two weeks shut up in the basement of the house he was more than a little keen to breath some fresh air again, not to mention actually talk to someone who wasn't Harry, no matter how much closer the two of them had grown.

"Yes, I want to a full debriefing before we take you back to Avengers Tower," Fury stated. He had had the regular updates, of course, but he still wanted to know everything that Harry had told Clint over the last couple of weeks.

"Yes, sir," Clint said, as he headed towards the door where Fury was still standing. He wasn't at all surprised by the request and was actually almost looking forward to something that actually felt normal to him. "Guys, really, you couldn't wait until we left?" Clint asked when he caught sight of Steve and Harry.

Steve was already topless, Harry too, and they appeared to be permanently attached at the lips, Harry's legs wrapped around Steve's waist as the older of the two pinned the smaller man to the wall.

"Perhaps we should allow the two of them to get reaquainted," Fury said, a little disapproving. He wasn't sure why it was that the two of them didn't have any restraint when it came to being in one another's presence but he didn't fancy getting in the middle of them.

-x

Steve was only vaguely aware of Fury and Clint leaving, he had only one thing on his mind and that was Harry. Having him back in his arms was like nothing else he could remember feeling. Kissing him again, feeling Harry's warmth pressed up against him, Steve felt more alive in this moment than he had done in the past two weeks.

"Bedroom," Steve pleaded breathlessly, breaking their kiss and allowing Harry to breathlessly point in the direction they needed to go. The super soldier wasted no time in leading his lover in that direction, the two of them reaching the bedroom at the end of the corridor without letting go of one another, stealing frequent, slightly desperate kisses.

The safe house was by no means luxurious, but then it was not meant to be somewhere that people occupied for long periods of time, which was made clear by the fact there were single occupancy metal bunk beds in the bedroom. Steve looked at the bunk beds in disgust; he wasn't sure he would fit on one of the single beds on his own, let alone with Harry as well.

"Can you umm… do something about this?" Steve asked, looking at Harry curiously.

Harry just laughed, muttering some latin words and Steve watched, utterly dumbfounded, as the metal bunk beds shrunk and transformed into a simple, double metal-framed bed. "Better?" Harry asked with a smile as he ran his hands through Steve's soft blond hair.

"Much better," Steve said as he claimed Harry's lips in another kiss, pulling the smaller man close to his body. Harry moaned happily into the kiss as his lover walked him across the room, until he felt the cool metal of the bed frame against the backs of his legs. "Lie down," Steve suggested, his lips barely brushing against Harry's as he spoke.

Harry was completely on board with that suggestion, sitting down on the edge of the mattress as Steve kissed him again; he let the older man lay him down and shuffled backwards so that he could lie on the bed fully. The super soldier hurriedly reached for the zipper of Harry's trousers, determined to get them both undressed and quickly.

"Steve," Harry gasped, as his lover all but tore the trousers from his body, dragging down his underwear at the same time. He was a little surprised by his own relief at being this close to Steve again and he found himself actually wanting something more than just a hasty roll in the sheets. "Steve, slow down, please," he pleaded, looking up at the lust filled blue eyes, "I want this to last, let's go slow," he suggested hopefully.

Steve blinked a little in surprise, and had to take a moment to realise what Harry was asking of him. From what he could tell Harry had always been about a quick fuck, hard and fast, that was how it had always been for the two of them and Steve had definitely enjoyed that; but now Harry was asking for something different, something more and truth be told it turned Steve on massively.

"Alright," Steve said with a smile, recognising that Harry was looking for an intimacy between them like they had never had before and he liked that idea greatly. Standing next to the bed and meeting Harry's beautifully green eyes, Steve started to remove his own clothing, slowly, just like his lover had requested.

Steve then climbed onto the bed too, crawling across the mattress to position himself over Harry. He held himself there and claiming Harry's lips in a sweet kiss; it lacked the desperation and hunger of their previous kisses but the passion, love and affection was there and its intensity had increased.

"Please don't ever leave me again," Steve pleaded as he held himself above Harry, looking down into the impossibly green eyes and feeling nothing but love for the younger man.

"I'm not going anywhere, Cap," Harry said with a soft smile, reaching up and wiping away a stray tear that had been threatening to fall from Steve's eyes, hating that he caused his lover so much distress. He knew that the serum was making the super soldier's emotions more overwhelming for the other man, and it was becoming very clear that Fury hadn't been exaggerating when he had talked about Steve's love for him.

Steve smiled at Harry teasingly, before he began to kiss his way down his lover's chest, sucking and nibbling on every inch of tanned skin, appretiating each muscle, teasing each nipple until they were hard stubs and overly sensitive. Harry's back arched, as though his whole body was reaching for Steve, pleading for more with each gentle caress but Steve was determined to give Harry what he had asked for, to take it slow and make it last.

"Is there lube here?" Steve asked, a little fearful of what the answer might be. He almost hoped that there wasn't, that Harry couldn't direct him to it instantly. He wanted to trust Harry completely, just like Fury has said he should, but he couldn't shake the thought that his lover had been shut up in the safe house, alone with Clint for two full weeks, and he didn't know what he would do if Harry had supplies on hand for such things.

"No," Harry said breathlessly, as Steve began to stroke his cock with long, slow motions that had Harry bucking up his hips trying to get more friction, more contact, just more; he hadn't anticipated quite how intense the slower pace would be. "I… I don't think so…" he added wishing that he had thought to check for anything they could use the moment he knew that Steve was coming.

"I have some," Steve said as he nibbled at Harry's hip, grazing his teeth over taut skin and bone. "In my bag," he said, his breath brushing over Harry's erection as he moved further down to his lover's balls, where he sucked one into his mouth causing Harry to almost scream with pleasure. Steve had not used his two weeks to do nothing, he had been doing some serious research, wanting to make sure that he knew exactly how best to please Harry when they were reunited.

Basically any down time that he had had, Steve had been watching more than his fair share of porn; it had taken a little while for him to feel comfortable watching such things but soon he had found himself studying it endlessly, notepad and pen out so that he could take notes on the various positions that he liked the look of. He had even found a few extra things that he knew he wanted to try, if Harry was happy to, though he wasn't sure that his desires were exactly normal. Either way those ideas were not for now. Now he wanted to worship Harry and show him exactly how much he had been missed.

It took Harry a little while to regain his thoughts, after the waves of pleasure that had washed over him, gasping again when Steve switched to suck at the other ball. It was with some difficulty that he managed to get out the words to summon the lube from Steve's bag, which was still out in the hallway, as he was too wrapped up in the sensations of what his lover was doing to him.

It took a few seconds, but sure enough the little tube came whizzing into the room and Harry struggled to catch it, his attention on his lover, wanting to feel so much more. As Harry passed Steve the lube, the older man took Harry's erection into his mouth, keeping a firm grip on the smaller man's hips.

Harry almost lost control of himself, his erection inside Steve's warm, wet mouth, his balls being fondled, he honestly couldn't think straight. When he felt a finger trail gently across his hole he cried out with pleasure, his whole body contracting as he came, spilling his seed into his lover's waiting mouth.

Steve swallowed as he let Harry's cock slip from between his lips. He still had the lube his lover had summoned gripped firmly in his hand, and squirted some onto his fingers, eager to feel the heat of his lover's body around any part of him. Harry was breathing heavily, riding the waves of his first orgasm, his body limp and heavy as the super soldier coated his entrance with lube before slowly, teasingly pushing a single finger inside.

Harry's voice became nothing more than garbled nonsense as he writhed on Steve's finger, begging and pleading for more in almost incoherent sentences. Steve watched his lover's face, filled with confidence that he was doing it right by the reaction that other man was giving him.

Adding a second finger, he watched as Harry fisted his hands around the sheets, arching his back as his body adjusted to the invasion. Steve moved slowly, carefully and with utter precision, hitting the little bundle of nerves inside of his lover only went he meant to, taking Harry's almost fully hard cock into his mouth again as he continued to stretch out his lover.

"Please," Harry begged, needing more, wanting to feel Steve inside of him before he was almost literally made to explode. Steve, however, was having far too much fun with his teasing, driving Harry wild. It was clear that he was so very close to coming for the second time and that was exactly what the super-soldier wanted.

When Harry had requested that they go slow he had never imagined that it would be this intense. His hands were shaking as he tried to reach out and stroke the older man's hair as the taller man bobbed up and down on his erection. Steve, releasing his hold on Harry's cock, placed a soft kissed the palm of the younger man's hand as he added a third digit, scissoring them to fully prepare his lover.

"Steve," Harry said, his voice barely a whisper, bearing down on the fingers inside of him, every nerve ending in his body on fire with want and need. Yet Steve didn't stop, ignoring the desperate pleadings of his younger lover, instead carrying on with the foreplay, determined to give Harry the intimacy that he wanted.

As Steve brushed over his prostate Harry gave a silent scream, his voice already raspy and his throat sore as he came for the second time. Steve knew that Harry was ready now but he didn't stop, allowing for his lover to ride out his orgasm, waves of pleasure washing over him. Steve, however, was not finished yet.

Harry was limp and pliable in his arms as Steve kissed his way up his lover's body. He grabbed the lube and squirted some on his throbbing erection, needing a moment to calm himself before he claimed Harry as his own once more.

Drawing level with one another, Steve pressed his lips to Harry's, capturing them in a searing kiss. Looking down into his lover's stunning emerald eyes that had almost completely taken over, his pupils lost in a haze of lust, Steve couldn't help himself, he was in love. "There is everything I am,... my life... and then there's you," he said, stroking lovingly at Harry's raven hair, unable to take in just how beautiful this man was.

"Make love to me," Harry pleaded desperately, "I need you," he added, unable to break their eye contact, lost in the perfection of the moment, wanting Steve more than he had ever wanted anything in his life

Gathering Harry up and into his arms, Steve sat up, shuffling his back up against the headboard as he placed Harry into his lap, so that the younger man's legs were on either side of him. Instinctively, Harry wound his arms around Steve's neck, holding on as he felt his lover's erection line up to his entrance.

Both of them were breathing heavily, their hearts pounding, Harry already on a high from two orgasms as Steve's hands held on to his hips, ready to push himself inside. Their eye contact wasn't broken as very slowly, Steve pushed the head of his erection inside of his younger lover. They were so close to one another that Harry could feel the heat of Steve's breath ghosting across his lips as he fought to control himself.

"If I'm hurting you…" Steve began to say but Harry shook his head, fingers intertwining into soft blond hair that was damp with sweat.

"You've never hurt me, Cap," Harry said breathlessly as the intensity increased with every inch Steve pushed into his younger lover. He couldn't help but close his eyes as finally, Steve was fully inside of him. Harry's muscles were trembling but then so were Steve's, the two of them unmoving as they just marvelled in being so close to one another.

Drawing Harry into a long, sensual kiss, Steve began to rock their hips, moving slowly in and out of Harry, hands wandering up and down the smooth skin of the smaller man's back, their sweat slicked skin gliding effortlessly together. For the first time both of them feeling irrevocably connected to the other.

"I need to tell you," Steve said, breaking the kiss, resting his forehead against Harry's as he continued to rock them together, drawing long, illicite moans from his lover's lips. "I love you," he said, his voice barely a whisper as he uttered the words.

"I'm yours," Harry said, his voice coming out a little broken, his throat dry and sore from the screaming, "I can promise you that I'm yours," he added before Steve claimed his lips in a sweet yet desperate kiss.

Steve knew that the serum was affecting him and his emotions, to have this admission from Harry was all that he could hope for at this point. For Harry to say that to him gave Steve the hope that he would love him eventually. Rocking back and forth, Steve reached between them to take Harry's sensitive semi-erection into his hand. He wanted for him to come at least once more.

He drew the smaller man into small, loving kisses, making them long and slow, drawing everything out into the most beautiful and sensual feelings, truly showing him that he was loved. It didn't take much for Harry to come, his erection overly sensitive from his two previous orgasms, though not much come came out.

Steve, however, felt Harry's muscles contract around him; he had been holding on, taking it slow like his lover had wanted, but the pressure pushed him over the edge, causing him to empty himself inside of his younger lover. He tightened his hold around of Harry, holding him close as the two of them rode out their orgasms. Harry was literally shaking, muscles trembling as he held on to Steve with all the strength that he had left.

He felt it as Harry went limp in his arms, his breathing becoming deep and even, signalling to Steve that he had fallen asleep. The older man's heart swelled knowing that Harry trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms but he found that he didn't want to lose the connection between them so soon.

Settling himself against the headboard and maneuvering some pillows and the duvet so that they would both be warm enough and comfortable, Steve allowed Harry to sleep on in his arms, remaining inside of him and just listening to the sound of his lover sleeping.

-x

Fury opted not to accompany Clint back to Avengers Tower, deciding to remain in Washington to make sure all their bases were covered, that people weren't asking difficult questions about where Captain America was, nor where Agent Barton had been for the last two weeks. Clint, however, was keen to get back to the tower, see for himself that they were all okay, not to mention actually wear some of his own clothes again, after having been stuck with the generic supplies that the safe house was stocked with.

Clint was a well trained Agent, something he prided himself on, and so had been able to cope relatively well with the insolation of the last two weeks, but that didn't mean he wasn't glad to get out of there. It was going to be strange not having Harry around though; he had actually grown to quite like the guy, even if Harry also drove him nuts half the time.

He smiled and sighed, relaxing back into his seat in the helicopter, as he watched the buildings below get further away, the noise from the engine and blades drowning out all but his own thoughts and he was kind of glad for it; not that the pilot, the only other person on board, had spoken more than a two word greeting to him.

Clint was definitely looking forward to seeing Natasha again, so that he could train with someone who wasn't Harry of course, though Fury had informed him that she was currently on a mission with Thor to collect one of the spheres. He was a little disappointed that he hadn't been there to be able to go with them. He was just thinking about how he could use that to ensure himself a place on the next mission when there was a loud thunking sound, quickly followed by the bleeping of alarms and alert systems, which pulled him from his thoughts.

"What's happening?" he demanded to know, talking to the pilot through the headsets they were both wearing as he sat up straight. Clint had to quickly grab at his own seat as the helicopter started veering strangely off to one side, and he began instinctively looking around, trying to find the threat, to find something that might help them, but there was little to nothing that he could do while they were in mid-flight.

"Catastrophic failure," the pilot grunted out, clearly focused on trying to keep them in the air, but the movements of the helicopter were all over the place and Clint had to admit, at that moment, for the first time in a while, he felt completely out of control and was seriously fearing for his life.

-x

Natasha and Thor had been shocked at how easy it was to locate and claim the sphere as their own, they had expected for Loki to put up some form of resistance or to be there to claim it himself but he had not. There had been no sign of him or of George, anywhere, something which both Thor and Natasha had found highly suspicious.

They had been on high alert the entire time that they had been out of the tower but they hadn't been challenged at all. The sphere was now tucked away on Thor's person, thinking that he was probably the strongest of them and the most able to protect it from his brother if it was needed.

Tony had been waiting for them back at the tower along with Bruce; the two of them had been working separately in their labs for the majority of the day as their normal lives had not stopped regardless of this mission from S.H.I.E.L.D. They had been expecting for Fury and Clint to have been back by now but they weren't concerned by the fact that they weren't, not if Fury had had a debriefing to do as Clint and Steve traded places. All they knew was that they were due back at some point today.

Dinner had been cooked by one of the many chefs that Tony had on payroll and had been waiting for them all at seven that evening, once Natasha and Thor had returned. The four of them had gathered in the communal area, the sphere sat on the table for all to see and to be proud of the fact they had in their control. It was definitely reassuring to know that while they had this, Loki would be unable to access the power of the other sphere, even if he did somehow get his hands on it.

It was a nice, even an empowering feeling, to have the upperhand, to know that Harry was safely out of Loki's grasp and they had one of the seven sphere's that Loki needed to unlock the eighth, which he couldn't get hold of without Harry. They were all rather jubilant as they sat down to dinner together.

They were all in the mood to celebrate their victory; Tony had brought out the beer and even Natasha was enjoying one. It wasn't until Jarvis announced that Director Fury was on the line for them all that any of them spared a thought for where Clint might have got to, and even then, they were unconcerned, thinking that Fury was just checking in with them to see how the mission had gone. For all they knew he could have sent Clint on another mission, it wasn't exactly uncommon for this to happen.

"Did you get the sphere?" Fury asked without so much as a pleasantry to them. He was never one for pleasantries and the Avengers were all more than aware of this, so were not about to take offence nor allow for it to ruin the jovial mood.

"We did," Thor confirmed happily. He raised his bottle of beer and chinked it against Natasha's in celebration of this fact.

"We have it here in front of us," Natasha said, smiling rather smugly. There was still something that didn't feel right about how easily the sphere had been obtained. However, she would take this small victory for what it was, at least for the moment. It wasn't like they got much of a chance to celebrate.

"Good," Fury said bluntly, pleased with their progress and also with their advantage. "And Barton, I assume he made it back to Avengers tower." He spoke as this was an afterthought, something that he had taken for granted, however the smiles had faded from the faces of the Avenger's as he had asked this, instantly knowing that something was wrong.

"Barton?" Tony asked in confusion as if he might suddenly appear before them, however this was not the case; the Avengers were all suddenly very alert, sitting up and discarding their bottles of beer and plates of food. "He's meant to be back already?" he asked, looking around at the others, who were all getting to their feet. Natasha was looking more than a little panicked now, Bruce too seemed concerned. "Jarvis, is Barton in the building?" he asked quickly, hoping that Clint had just gone to shower and change, or taken a nap or something of the like.

"I have scanned the building and there is no sign of him, Sir," Jarvis confirmed a second later, causing the Avengers to share looks of alarm as it was made clear that Clint was nowhere in the building. They were all aware that Clint could take care of himself but with Loki threatening them all they were all a little worried about what might have happened, Loki had been able to control Clint before.

"I will check with S.H.I.E.L.D on the location of the helicopter," Fury said promptly and, before anyone could respond, the line went dead.

"Where the fuck is he?" Natasha asked, already heading across the communal floor towards the elevator. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do yet, but there was a jet in the Tower's hanger and she was going to take that and find Clint herself if she had to.

"We'll find him," Tony said, hot on Natasha's heels as she summoned the elevator. Thor and Bruce following behind the two of them, determined to help in any way that they could. Bruce, however, knew that they couldn't all run off half-cocked without a plan; it wouldn't help Clint at all if that were to happen, they needed to coordinate.

"Maybe he changed his mind and he stayed with Harry with Steve," Bruce suggested but even he knew that this wasn't going to be the case. No one would have wanted to be in isolation with those two and Fury wouldn't have thought he should be back at Avengers Tower of that was the case. Natasha knew just how much Clint disliked being a captive, even if that was in hiding and he wasn't being held against his will. She knew he wouldn't have voluntarily returned to the safe house.

"We cannot all leave," Thor said, glancing back at the sphere and knowing that the moment they left it unattended then it was likely that Loki would attempt to take it. They had no idea whether or not Loki knew they had this sphere but after collecting it with such ease he didn't want to take any chances. The sphere would have to come with them.

"I will stay here," Bruce said, thinking that the last thing they needed was for him Hulking out on them. That was only going to exacerbate any situation; no, he would remain here and use his mind rather than the green guy in their mission to find Clint.

"We need the others back," Natasha stated rather bluntly, thinking that it would be a hell of a lot easier with their full team. Even Harry was likely to be a good ally in this and yet he and Steve were off, probably fucking like bunnies, while the rest of them risked their lives and Clint was missing.

Of course she understood why Harry had to remain hidden, it wasn't exactly for his safety but it was to keep Loki's access to the eighth sphere as an impossibility. Having someone with him was not only for Harry's safety but for his sanity too; it would have been hellish to be isolated and alone. Natasha held no grudges against him for that, especially seeing as the situation was out of his control; however, it still would have been easier with the team united.

"Director Fury, Sir," Jarvis announced with a matter of urgency before the line clicked on and Nick was talking to them through the comms system again.

"The helicopter was brought down with systems failure a few minutes into their flight, the pilot arrived back with no memory of anything, including who he is; I assume that this is a trick of Loki's new wizarding friend." Fury seemed less than impressed by this, though he didn't actually have to assume anything; he was well aware of the capabilities of wizards and so he knew what had happened to the pilot.

"What about Clint?" Natasha demanded, trying not to sound as frantic as she felt. The elevator had just arrived but she made no move to get in, needed to get some answers from Fury first. If he could point her in the right direction and speed up the process of finding him then she would wait.

"There is no sign of him," Fury informed them. "I have chartered a helicopter to bring you all to Washington, it'll be faster than the jet, you have ten minutes to get ready; it will pick you up from Avenger's Tower."

"I'm calling the Harry and Steve, they need to know," Natasha said with finality, hoping that Fury wouldn't argue. They were all heading to where Clint had last been and that meant that they would be close to Steve and Harry. It also meant that that was likely to be where Loki and George would be.

"Fine but Harry is not to come out of hiding," Fury said insistently. "The last thing we need is to get Barton back only to lose Potter."

"Agreed," Thor said, thinking that this was sounding like something Loki would do. If Harry could stay hidden then they would keep the upper hand with the sphere, though it was becoming clear to him that they might have to trade it to get Clint back.

"Banner, you'll be on the helicopter too," Fury instructed. "If shit goes down we're going to need you." This had been what Bruce had been afraid of but he mumbled his agreement, knowing that Nick was right. "Ten minutes," Fury reminded them before the line went dead.

"Time to suit up," Tony said with a grin, always looking on the bright side. He was rather looking forward to donning his Ironman suit and taking it for a spin, though he never tired of that. He and Pepper had parted ways amicably for the moment and Tony was finding that he didn't mind so much, having this mission and his friends around was certainly helping him not to care too much.

"Better take a few spare reactors," Bruce said as they all piled into the elevator, "just in case." Tony nodded his agreement; it had been close before, he wasn't going to let it get that close again.

-x

Steve had fallen asleep, leaning against the headboard of the bed, Harry still on his lap, though he was no longer inside of him. Both of them groaned as the phone on the wall above their heads started to ring shrilly through the room. Neither of them really wanted to move but they knew it might be important. Only Fury and the other avengers had the number for the safe house and knew that they were there. Stretching his arm at an odd angle and reaching above him, Steve grabbed the handset, mumbling a sleepy hello down the line.

"Is Clint with you?" a panicked Natasha barked at them. She was so loud that Steve had to hold the handset away from his ear and even Harry grimaced a little at the volume of her voice.

"No," Steve informed her, his tone a little grumpy due to the fact they had been disturbed, "he left with Director Fury a while ago."

"He's missing," Natasha said. "We're coming to Washington, leaving in five minutes. We think Loki might be behind it."

"How can we help?" Steve asked, suddenly a lot more awake and alert.

"We'll contact you when we arrive," Natasha said before the line cut off rather suddenly and Steve was left in a slight state of shock at what he had just been told.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, a slightly dazed expression on his face. He had heard most of the conversation, however he hadn't taken much of it in given his half asleep state.

"Clint's missing," Steve told him gently, not wanting for Harry to worry when there was nothing that he could do. However, at the same time he wanted to be truthful with him, they would never get anywhere together if they lied to one another.

"How?" Harry asked with confusion. "He can't have been gone for more than a few hours." Harry couldn't help but feel a little confused about how this had happened, as he started to move off of Steve's lap, his muscles groaning in agony.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked as he reluctantly let Harry go, shifting himself also so that he could follow.

"To shower," Harry informed him, "we have to help."

"Harry," Steve said with a sigh, following him out of the room, "we can't help them, at least you can't."

"Of course I can," Harry said as he went into the bathroom and started the shower, adjusting the temperature to how he liked it. Clint had always liked it so much hotter than he did.

"If Loki has taken Clint like Natasha's suspects then he's done so to get information on your location," Steve argued, "or to draw you out to make it easier for him." He wanted to make Harry see reason, to try and convince him not to do anything rash.

"I was fine hiding out here, no arguments despite how frustrating it was, but that was while no one was in danger. I can't just sit here while Clint is missing because of me," Harry argued back, his noble Gryffindor side rearing its ugly head.

He had hated being stuck here in this safe house but he had remained without complain because he had known that while he was here the others were safe. Now that that wasn't the case Harry refused to just sit and stare at the blank walls, doing nothing while other people fought his battles.

Stepping into the shower, believing that that was the end of the matter, Harry started to scrub himself clean, feeling a little grimey from the layer of sweat that had been coating his body from their rather intimate love making session. He was rather taken aback when Steve stepped into the shower behind him, large hands coming to rest on his hips.

"Please," Steve pleaded softly, water cascading down over the two of them, "don't put yourself at risk, trust us to look after ourselves and you. We're a team and you're part of that."

"But I'm not part of the team," Harry said, turning in Steve's embrace so that they were facing one another, "I may as well be another damn sphere with all the use I'm being."

"Don't," Steve said with a low snarl. "Never underestimate yourself or how important you are."

"That's the thing," Harry said with a sigh, "I don't want to be important."

"Then we are going to have a problem," Steve said sadly.

"Why?" Harry questioned, looking up at Steve with concern.

"Because you're very important to me," he returned, grabbing hold of Harry more firmly and pulling him into a deep kiss, one hand cupping the back of the younger man's head to deepen the kiss. "Can you…?" he asked; he wanted to distract Harry a little longer, but there was also simply the fact that he seemed to be unable to keep from touching the other man.

"Yes," Harry replied breathlessly, he didn't care how sore he might have been, he was never going to say no to Steve, not when he made him feel so amazing.

"Good," Steve said simply, backing Harry up against the shower wall, before swiftly picking the smaller man up into his arms and pinning him against the wet surface. Harry moaned happily as Steve pressed their lips against each others once more.

Harry was about to complain when Steve pulled back, but he was taken by surprise when the bigger man lifted him further up the wall, hitching one of his legs over the super soldier's broad shoulders. He had no idea what Steve was doing, but decided to trust him, as his other leg was shifted over Steve's other shoulder, his back braced against the tiled shower wall.

It was only then that he really realised that this left him completely exposed and at Steve's mercy, his groin positioned just in front of his lover's face, something the taller man looked very pleased with. Harry found he didn't have any objections either, as Steve leaned forward and took the tip of Harry's half hard length into his mouth.

"Oh, fuck, Steve!" Harry exclaimed as his lover began to tease him to hardness in no time at all, his fingers winding into Steve's blond hair, feeling a little precariously balanced essentially sat on his lover's shoulders; though the super-soldier had a firm grip on his hips that was not about to let him go anywhere.

Steve released his hold with one hand, moving it between Harry's legs, while he kept sucking on the erection between his lips. He was under no delusion about how sore Harry would likely be after their earlier lovemaking session and he hadn't exactly believed Harry when he had said that he could go again; so, making sure his hand was plenty wet from the shower still streaming down around them, he pressed a single digit gently inside his lover.

Harry winced, jerking away from the intrusion instinctively, accidentally thrusting himself further into Steve's mouth at the same time. Harry tried to hide his reaction, but Steve wasted no time in removing his finger and refocusing his attentions on Harry's cock. He didn't want to hurt his lover, but he had wanted to see just how truthful Harry had been with him; it was clear that Harry was too sore for another round, but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun together.

Steve redirected his free hand to Harry's balls, teasing at them as he took more and more of Harry's erection into his mouth, determined to take it all before he was done. He had seen a few videos of it and had done a little reading up, wanting to be able to manage it himself. So he took a calming breath and tried to relax as he took the length right to the back of his mouth.

He felt his gag reflex kick in, but pulled back and breathed through his nose, before trying again. Harry whined happily, and Steve could feel his lover's heels pressing against his back, fingers pulling gently at his hair.

It was exactly the reaction that Steve had been hoping for and it spurred him on, as he pulled back before swallowing the entire length once more. He could feel how close his lover was already, Harry making noises that sounded like mumbled attempts at his name. He paused in his movement, breathing through his nose carefully, as he held Harry's cock fully in his mouth, swallowing against the tip in his throat.

The smaller man almost screamed out his pleasure as his orgasm slammed into him, emptying himself down Steve's throat as he came. It was perhaps the most erotic sight Steve had ever seen, and he reached down with the hand he had had on Harry's balls and stroked himself firmly a few times, he too came, splattering come all over the tiles.

"Holy fuck," Harry gasped out breathlessly. Steve eased Harry's softening length from between his lips, and let Harry's legs slip from off of his shoulders, lowering the smaller man such that they could wrap around his waist instead.

"Agreed," Steve said, as he stole a kiss, pressing their chests together, but it couldn't last long as they were both still somewhat out of breath from their mutual climax.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Harry asked, wondering if Steve had found someone to practice on in the time he had been away from him; it hurt his head and his heart to think that Steve had been with someone else but there was no way that such an inexperienced man had learnt all of that on his own.

At the question Steve's cheeks flushed a brilliant scarlet, suddenly unable to look Harry in the eye. "I um … researched it," he admitted sheepishly.

"Researched it?" Harry questioned curiously, smiling a little.

"Yeah, I um… I watched….ah…. some videos" Steve admitted.

It was at this point that Harry cottoned on and couldn't stop giggling; he couldn't help but imagine what Tony would make of Steve's internet search history now, because he was sure that was the kind of thing that Tony would look at, but he wasn't mean enough to actually point this out to Steve.

"Oh, Cap," Harry said fondly, "you might just be the most amazing man I have ever met."

* * *

><p>I know that I'm a little evil... the next chapter is being written as we speak and I even have a few days off work to really get on with it. Shouldn't be too long now. Don't forget to leave me a review and let me know what you thought.<p> 


	13. Deception

The Affliction of War

Note: I had a few complaints that there was too much smut in the last chapter. For that I apologise, though I will also say that it was there for a reason. It was to show the development of the relationship and how, in their two week separation, they changed for one another. Steve researching and wanting to know how to please Harry. Harry wanting more than just sex from Steve, craving that intimacy. This is primarily a romance story between two characters with an underlying plot to that as well. I'm sorry if you felt as if there was too much smut and there won't always be that much in the chapters, it was just necessary in that particular chapter to show how much the two of them had changed in their time apart.

* * *

><p>Chapter Thirteen - Deception<p>

Clint screamed.

It felt as if flames were burning him from the inside, out. White hot pain ripped through the marrow of his bones. He wouldn't tell them anything, he was stronger than this but such torture was unheard of. He was not bound or restrained but he found himself unable to move his body, somehow he had been completely paralyzed from the neck down.

The pain was never ending but he wasn't going to let it beat him, he was stronger than that. No matter how many hours Loki and his new companion tortured him he wouldn't tell them anything about Harry or where he was. Clint wasn't about to any of his friends in danger and that included the newest addition of their team.

-x

The atmosphere on the helicopter carrying Thor, Natasha and Bruce to Washington was tense, none of them really knowing what to say to each other. Tony had opted to fly there in his Ironman suit, wanting to see it from his own perspective, and was slightly ahead of them as he hadn't had to wait for the helicopter to arrive at Avengers Tower like the others.

He was waiting for them on the ground by the time the helicopter set down. He had already flown over the area, but there wasn't anything much to see; there was no trace of what had happened, the crashed helicopter having been removed by S.H.I.E.L.D. already.

"We won't find anything here," Natasha said, glaring at the surrounding undergrowth with frustration. They weren't going to find anything useful to help Clint here that was for sure. Nothing had been left behind, no clues as to where they had gone or who had taken him.

The whole area was fairly remote though, and none of them thought that this was an accident; in fact they were all pretty sure that it was Loki who was behind it, not that there was any proof of that here. They could all see that it would have been the perfect place for an ambush and were now all aware of the lengths magic could go to, having been filled in by Fury.

"We need to figure out where Loki might have taken him," Bruce said thoughtfully, slightly concerned that it was possible they wouldn't find Clint without Harry's help. After all, Fury had told them that there were places that only wizards could go, unless you were shown by a wizard. Not only that but they had cloaking charms and the like; Bruce had been fascinated but it had all been a little much to take in.

In truth it seemed that they would be a little lost without Harry's help and they might not get Clint back in time. They were worried about what could be happening to Clint while they were searching for him, particularly with the combined abilities of Loki and the wizards he had recruited..

"We should check in with Rogers and Potter," Tony said, thinking along the same lines as Bruce. "I know that Fury said they shouldn't come out of hiding but we might need them to get Barton back."

"But Potter will be vulnerable to Loki," Thor argued, thinking that it would be a very bad idea to bring Harry out of the safe house and directly into the firing line of Loki.

"Potter might be the only way to find Barton," Natasha argued unhappily. "We don't stand a chance against magic, as much as it pains me to admit this, but we need him." Natasha didn't like admitting that she needed anyone but even she couldn't deny that they were in over their heads with this one a bit, even with out of this world help from Thor.

"Do we contact Fury?" Bruce asked, looking between the others, happy for them to make most of the plans. He would help them where he could, of course, but strategy on these things was not his area of expertise. He was thinking that they really needed all the help they could get at this point.

"He will already be doing all he can," Natasha said with certainty. She would never doubt that Fury was doing what he could to bring back Agent's, especially one of the Avenger's, however he would not sacrifice S.H.I.E.L.D or the safety of the world to bring him back. This was why, whatever Fury was doing, their efforts had to remain separate.

"And he would tell us to keep Harry safe and away from Loki at all costs, he wouldn't want us risking him to find Barton," Tony pointed out. He had grown to respect the direct of S.H.I.E.L.D in some aspects of the job, but the man was still somewhere between being a devious militant leader and a politician, not the sort of man he would ever really trust completely.

"So we go to the safehouse?" Thor questioned, thinking that this was not the best course of action, however he knew how much Barton meant to his comrades and he was not about to suggest another course of action, mainly because he didn't have any better ideas and also, he knew that even if he had it would have been shot down at once. They were all too focused on bringing Barton back.

"And how are we supposed to find that?" Tony asked. He hadn't been told the locations of any of the safe houses and, although he knew them because he had hacked the system, he wouldn't have been able to tell which ones were active or not. It might take him a good couple of hours to hack the system remotely and there was no way they would let him near their computer systems, not after the last time.

"We search them one by one," Natasha said with determination. She didn't care how long it took, they'd locate Steve and Harry and then, with their help, they would be able to find Clint. She was trying not to let her feelings cloud her judgement but it was difficult with how strongly she felt about him.

"How many are there? Thor asked, wondering how long it was likely to take them. He knew his brother and when he was determined to do something then nothing, not even stubborn resistance would stop him. Thor strongly suspected that Loki was working for someone more powerful that wanted the spheres for themselves. This would mean that there was only a small window of opportunity to retrieve Clint alive.

"In washington there are fifty-three," Natasha informed them, trying to sound confident but she was just as aware of their limited amount of time as Thor. Fifty-three was a lot and they were all over Washington, it would be pointless having safe houses grouped together afterall.

"Then we had better get going," Tony said with just as much determination as Natasha. Once again they had a common goal and it would unite them as a team until they completed their task. "We'll split up, cover more ground that way. Harry doesn't know America so if I understand portkeys right he would have had to think of a location so we should focus on safe houses close to memorable locations."

"I'm going back to the Triskelion, I'll see if I can coordinate the efforts from there, they should have a record of which ones are active," Bruce said, giving a nod towards the helicopter. Being in the field made him entirely uncomfortable and he was more than happy to leave that to the others. He wasn't sure if he would be able to access the database of the active safe houses but he could try and they all knew he had a better shot at getting close to the S.H.I.E.L.D computers than Tony did.

"Romanoff, I'll drop you off along the way," Tony said with a wink in her direction, Natasha only rolled her eyes as the mask slid into place. Bruce headed for the helicopter and Thor, with a swing of his mighty hammer, flew up into the sky.

-x

"It feels wrong just making dinner when we know Clint is missing," Harry said with a sigh. The two of them were in the small kitchen, needing to at least do something to keep themselves busy before the waiting drove them both crazy. Neither of them had bothered to get fully dressed, just pulling on jeans and nothing else. Harry found that he had been very grateful for Steve's forethought to bring some of their own clothing as he had been getting sick of the generic safe house clothing that had been supplied.

"But you know we can't help, it would just make everything worse," Steve reminded him as he came up behind him, his arms going around the smaller man's waist as he kissed at Harry's neck and shoulder. He loved to watch Harry cook, it was such a turn on for him but he knew that they couldn't go again, not for a little while. Harry needed time to recover so they were going to have to find something else to occupy their time.

Harry frowned. He didn't really believe that; he understood that Steve wanted to keep him away from everything that was happening, protect him, but he hated that they weren't out there helping the others. He knew what other witches and wizards were capable of; perhaps not George but there were a lot of his enemies out there that would have all been more than willing to work against him. It worried Harry that George had pointed Loki in the direction of some very dark and dangerous wizards.

Harry had already prepared the vegetables, the small bout of nausea having passed since he had spoken to Clint about possibly being pregnant with Steve's child and now he was fairly sure he wasn't. This was until he started to cut up the chicken; the raw pink meat against his hands and the potent smell of it rather suddenly turned his stomach. He didn't even have time to get to the bathroom, turning and emptying his stomach violently into the kitchen sink.

"My God, are you alright?" Steve asked, shocked at the suddenness of how it had happened. The last thing he had been expecting was for Harry to throw up so violently and without any warning.

"I'm fine," Harry said as he tried to catch his breath, steadying himself on the kitchen counter, Steve's hands still resting on his hips, the touch less romantic now and more concerned, not wanting for Harry to fall over. He had not been prepared for it and he was feeling rather shaken because of it.

"Come and sit down," Steve urged, concerned that something might be seriously wrong. "The food can wait," he said and Harry nodded his agreement, feeling a little dizzy from the unexpected vomiting, his hands still shaking as Steve helped him to the table before fetching him a glass of water.

Clint had inform him that Harry hadn't been well but that had completely gone out of his mind when he had seen his lover again, and this was the first sign that his partner was actually sick. Steve was seriously starting to regret their love making session, a little concerned that he had only made Harry worse because he hadn't let him rest.

"Don't look at me like that," Harry said weakly as he took a deep breath, willing for the nausea to pass. His head was still spinning a little but he was determined that this wasn't going to hold him back, he still had things that he had to do, people that needed him to be stronger than this.

"Like what?" Steve asked, a little confused. He hadn't thought that he had been looking at Harry in any particular way at all, except possibly concern but then that was what he was feeling. He couldn't help feeling that way, not when he loved the young man so much.

"Like I'm a lost puppy that you want to rescue; I'm honestly okay," Harry said, trying his best to smile sweetly at Steve who looked adorably worried. This was why he had no intention of concerning the older man with worry over the fact that he might be pregnant, until it was confirmed one way or another it wasn't worth Steve's fretting. Also, until it was confirmed one way or another Harry wasn't going to change his plans or the way he lived his life. It wasn't worth it. In truth he just didn't want to get his hopes up when he knew how unlikely it was.

"Let me at least get you a jumper," Steve said but before Harry could say anything the older man had vanished from the room. With a sigh, realising that it was just Steve's way, Harry got to his feet, though a little shakily; he took a deep breath and headed back to the counter. He needed to finish what he had started and that wasn't the cooking.

He very much doubted that Steve was going to let him finish preparing this meal when he got back to the kitchen so he had to be fast. The sauce for the chicken had been delivered to them in a packet ready to heat up. Quickly opening it, Harry poured it into a saucepan before going for the potion vial in his pocket.

Since being away from Steve and Avengers tower, locked away in a safe house, he had been struggling to sleep. Harry hadn't been able to get any alcohol, something he thought was probably for the best now, considering he thought he might be pregnant, and had been struggling to get any sleep thanks to his nightmares. The times that he had managed to get some rest he was almost always woken by images of death and destruction. He had quickly tired of Clint asking him whether or not he was okay everytime he woke up screaming with tears streaming down his cheeks.

This was why he had been so determined to find a way to get hold of some sleeping drafts. It had required the use of a few complicated spells, which he had been taught as an Auror as a way to communicate when deep undercover, but he had managed to request what he needed from Kingsley. Harry was very grateful that the Minister sent the potions without question, and amazed that the owl had managed to find him; though, he thought that that might have more to do with Fury informing his brother on their location than anything else.

Harry smiled at the memory of Clint's reaction to seeing the owl in the safehouse, the way that he had looked so utterly confused about where it had come from and the fact that it was carrying mail; Clint had thankfully accepted Harry's answer of 'Magic' and an accompanied shrug of the shoulders, without further comment, because Harry honestly didn't know how to explain any better.

Harry bit his lip and glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, before turning back to the stove and quickly adding the sleeping draft to the sauce. He felt so guilty for drugging Steve this way but he also knew it was the only way that he was going to be able to slip out of the safe house and find Clint without Steve trying to stop him; and he knew that he had to at least try and find Clint. He couldn't sit here and do nothing with a clear conscience.

He knew that it was probably both stupid and reckless, rushing off on his own like this, but he couldn't just sit here and do nothing. It wasn't like he was an eleven year old boy running off to protect the Philosopher's Stone from a dark and dangerous wizard he had no idea how to fight. He was twenty-seven years old and a trained Auror, who had completed many dangerous missions to keep the wizarding world safe. Though he still had no idea how to fight an Alien from another world but then there was always going to be a learning curve.

He had gone on assignments from the Ministry without a partner before and he could do so again, it was a simple rescue mission after all, and he had a fairly good idea on how to find them. Of course, he knew that it was likely to be a trap if it was as easy as he thought it might be, after all Loki needed him to retrieve the sphere from the Ministry, but he would go into this prepared for that as best he could be.

"Hey," Steve said with exasperation as he came back in the room carrying a jumper and a t-shirt. "Sit down already and let me look after you," he insisted, hurrying towards Harry when he saw that his lover had already gone back to the kitchen in the few moments he had been gone. He found Harry's stubbornness both endearing and frustrating to no end.

Steve failed to notice the empty vial as Harry quickly slipped back into the pocket of his jeans, focused instead on ushering the smaller man back to the table and getting him to sit down again. Guilt churning in his insides, Harry didn't fight him on it, allowing himself to be lead back to the table and sat down. "I'll finish cooking, you just sit," Steve instructed firmly.

He watched as Steve finished preparing the meat before starting to cook it; the smell of chicken was making him nauseous again and his guilt growing as he thought about the possibility of being pregnant and feeling worse for what he had done and what he was planning to do. He just kept reminding himself that this had to happen if he was ever going to get Clint back, that he didn't have any other choice.

Harry was taking slow breaths trying to ease the churning nausea in his stomach, but the smell of the chicken filling the room was enough to turn Harry's stomach again and after a couple of minutes he had to make a quick dash to the toilet, where he heaved but nothing much came up.

"Harry, maybe we need to take you to a doctor…" Steve suggested from the doorway, having followed him to the bathroom. He spoke hesitantly, not sure how Harry would take this suggestion, but he was concerned that something was seriously wrong with his lover, he hadn't seen anything like this, not without any other symptoms.

"I can't," Harry said as he fell back against the tiled wall, breathing heavily, glad to be away from the smell of the cooking food so that he could catch his breath. "I can't see regular doctors, my world has healers and there is only one that I've ever trusted enough to treat me."

"Could you not bring him here, if you trust him…?" Steve suggested but Harry only laughed. He could only imagine the look on Draco Malfoy's face when he was demanded to travel to America just for him, he doubted the blond would be impressed and could already hear the snarky remarks about him abusing his fame and making unreasonable demands. Not to mention he didn't really want to give Draco the possible chance to mock him for maybe getting knocked up.

There's was a complicated friendship, if you could even call it that. They helped each other, they were civil and most importantly they respected and trusted one another. They didn't especially like each other, at least Harry didn't think they did. However he knew that if he was pregnant then there was no one else he would trust to take care of his medical needs.

"He wouldn't come here, we're not friends," Harry said with a smile, turning to look up at Steve, who was leaning against the doorframe, watching him with concern. "His family and mine... it's complicated. I saved his life, his mother saved mine and because of the life debts we just… help each other when we can."

"If this gets worse we will be contacting him," Steve insisted firmly. He was not going to take any chances where Harry was concerned, especially not with his health. He would accept, at least for the moment, that his lover believed himself to be fine but if the symptoms got any worse then he would be doing something to make him better. He was determined that nothing was going to tear them apart. He had glossed over the mention of life debts and who had saved who, he knew that Harry had been through war but he wasn't sure he was ready to hear about his lover almost dying and someone else having to save him.

"Okay," Harry said with a small smile. "Maybe it'll help if I eat something," he suggested as Steve pulled him up and onto his feet, ensuring that he had enough of a hold on the smaller man to keep him steady and on his feet. "Though, maybe no sauce, not sure my stomach could take it," he added, ignoring the pang of guilt that went through him again.

"Plain chicken and vegetables it is then," Steve said with a small smile, placing a soft kiss on Harry's cheek as he helped him back through to the kitchen, sitting him back at the table, before returning to making them dinner.

-x

Harry was glad that the nausea seemed to have passed, and he had managed to eat most of the food that Steve had put in front of him, and he hadn't been surprised to see the super-soldier devour the rest of what had been prepared. "Come on," Harry said, getting to his feet and holding out his hand for Steve, who was already looking a little drowsy. "Let's go sit on the sofa," he suggested.

Steve nodded, giving Harry a smile as he accepted the hand and got to his feet, letting his lover lead him into the other room. The two of them settled down on the sofa together, cuddling up next to each other, and it took less than fifteen minutes for Steve to actually fall had no idea how long the potion would last on Steve, considering that he was a super soldier and he was just glad that it had worked at all. He knew he might not have long at all and so knew he had to hurry.

After carefully detangling himself from Steve's arms, he hurried into the other room, adding a t-shirt and jumper to the jeans he was wearing; Harry double checked that his wand was concealed on his person before he pushed his feet into his converse. However, he just couldn't bring himself to walk out of the door. Harry stood in the doorway to the sitting room simply watching Steve sleep, hating himself for what he knew he had to do.

His hand drifted to his stomach and a tear escaped from the corner of his eye. If he didn't leave now then it was possible that Clint was going to die but if he left then he was putting so much else at stake. He could easily have stayed, it would have been the easiest option for him but then he had never been one to take the easy way out. No matter what Harry could never put himself first, he could never be selfish and let someone else die because of him; he already had too many lives resting on his conscience, lives he had failed to save, and he refused to let Clint be another.

Going forward, Harry placed a soft kiss on Steve's lips, trying not to break his resolve to leave. "I'm sorry," he whispered, but Steve didn't stir, his soft, rhythmic breathing remained the same, even when the safehouse phone started to ring. Harry ignored the constant ringing, heading for the exit, knowing that he didn't have much time and that if he was really going to do this then it had to be now.

- x

"Agent Romanoff," Fury said as Natasha picked up the phone. She was on her way to check a third safehouse, the first two having been completely empty. She had been expecting for Fury to contact her or one of the others, it wouldn't have taken long for him to figure out what they were doing after all.

"Any sign of Barton?" she asked quickly before he could accuse her of going against his orders or betraying S.H.I.E.L.D, all of which she knew she was doing by defying his orders by seeking out Harry and Steve, rather than allowing them to remain in hiding.

"No, and there is now no answer at safehouse where Rogers and Potter are," he told her. The director had tried to get hold of Harry and Steve once he had realised that Banner was at the Triskelion and trying to find information on the safe houses; it was clear that the Avengers had decided they needed Potter's help to find Hawkeye but he needed for the wizard to remain safe. Now, though, he was concerned that the reckless streak that Kingsley had told him Potter had, had reared its head and that the young wizard had gone after Barton himself. That was the best case scenario right now, worst case was that they had been found.

"Which one is it?" Natasha demanded to know. She needed Harry to help them find Clint, and they couldn't let Loki get his hands on Harry either; if something had gone wrong at the safehouse, if he was in danger, then she needed to be there as soon as possible for all their sakes. She truly hoped that Fury could see that and understood why she had done what she'd done.

"Newport Avenue," Fury informed her with a sigh. "The safe house is on Newport Avenue, number thirty-two, the entrance is to the right side of the property. You know the code to get in."

"Thank you, Sir," Natasha said before cutting off the call and calling Tony. "Newport Avenue, number thirty two; it's in the basement, entrance to the side of the house. I'll meet you there."

"They're there, you're sure?" Tony asked, bemused as to how she had found this out so suddenly, though knowing better than to ask questions. He had already changed his flight path to head in that direction.

"Yes, and you're closest," she said before ending that call as well and heading in that direction, knowing that she would need a vehicle to travel that distance. She only hoped that she wasn't too late and that both Steve and Harry were alright. With no answer at the safe house she, just like Fury, had predicted the two most likely scenarios.

The first was that they were having sex, but she doubted that even they, as loved up as they were, would not answer the phone when it rang, especially in times of emergency. The second option was that something was wrong, something had happened and they were unable to get to the phone to answer it. Either way they now had the location and were on their way. If she got there and they were just having sex she wasn't going to be best pleased, however at least they'd all be able to work on finding Clint together if that was the case.

Thor had already been in that area searching, however he had no phone for them to call him so instead she called Bruce to let him know what had happened and where they were going. He would need to know so that he could coordinate them from the Triskelion, hoping that he would be able to get a S.H.I.E.L.D vehicle to her location.

-X

It hadn't taken Tony long at all to reach the safehouse after Natasha had given him a specific address; she had told him he was closest so he wasn't surprised to see that none of the others were there when he arrived in the quiet residential neighbourhood. It had taken a few minutes to locate the entrance Natasha had mentioned, only for him to be faced with what looked to be a highly secured and reinforced door.

"Jarvis, any idea how exactly we are supposed get in?" Tony asked the A.I., already knowing that he probably wasn't actually going to be any help.

"I believe that would require an access code, sir," Jarvis informed him. "I would suggest awaiting Agent Romanoff's arrival."

"Figured," Tony said, already making his way back around towards the front of the house, to wait for Natasha. He could see that a few locals had already noticed him, and he figured it would be best not to draw attention to the hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. safe house if possible.

He felt a little awkward standing in the middle of a residential street in broad daylight. It was a warm summer evening and there were people milling about, pointing and staring at him as he stood outside number thirty-two; a few of them were even finding the courage to actually approach him, and he had already signed autographs for two kids, who had rushed off to show them proudly to their parents.

It took Natasha another twenty minutes to arrive in her reinforced S.H.I.E.L.D suv, by which point Tony had drawn quite a crowd. It couldn't be helped, he was a hero, they all were after what had happened in New York and it didn't matter to these people that they had a job to do. Tony could see that Natasha was not at all pleased to find they had such an audience; he didn't mind the fans so much but he did agree that there were too many people trying to get pictures with Ironman for them to do their jobs properly.

"Tony," Natasha hissed, glaring at him; the whole situation was too much like a theme park ride for Natasha's liking and if one more guy tried to manhandle her then she wouldn't be responsible for her actions. "Get them out of here," she said, not wanting to divulge the location of the safe house because there were too many adoring fans.

If they became much more famous then they weren't going to be able to do their jobs effectively. People seemed to love them and she really didn't care how many fans she had, not like Tony who thrived on it. She only wanted to get her mission done with the minimum amount of casualties; if Tony didn't deal with the crowds promptly then she would, and she knew herself well enough to know that that would end with a lot of ruffled feathers.

Thankfully though, Tony seemed to catch on pretty quickly, knowing that they were not going to be able to get anywhere near the safehouse with so many people watching them. He was plenty experienced with how to get people's attention firmly fixed on him, and it didn't take a genius to work out how to distract this crowd; he put on a bit of a light show and started swooshing around a little doing a few tricks in his suit, drawing their gazes to him.

It was quick to work and. though he was doing this, he kept one eye on Natasha at all times so he knew where she was going and that she was safe. "Jarvis, inform Banner that Romanoff is in the safehouse," he instructed as soon as his sensors indicated that she had gone inside.

Natasha drew her gun, just in case there had been foul play and she needed to defend herself, though she really hoped that that was not the case. Her heart was pounding as she entered in the numeric code and the door unlocked. Scanning the hallway she entered, gun in hand and ready to fire, every inch of her skin tingling and alert as she took a few careful steps into the safe house.

Moving through the dwelling slowly and cautiously it wasn't long before she spotted Steve on the sofa, topless and just starting to stir. Seeing that he was very obviously alive she cleared the rest of the house, looking for any sign of Harry but finding none before going to Steve.

"What happened?" Stee asked, rubbing his head, feeling a little out of it. He had no idea what Harry had done but the serum had burnt through the potion faster than it would have in a regular person, it had just left him feeling a little sluggish.

"I was going to ask you that," Natasha said as she stowed her gun away. There was no danger here, it appeared as if Steve had just been asleep, though she doubted that it was a coincidence that Harry was now gone. What she couldn't decide was whether or not Harry had drugged Steve and left on his own accord or whether foul play was involved.

"Harry…" Steve said, realising that he couldn't see him and starting to worry.

"Not here," Natasha said gently.

"He's sick, he has to be here, he wouldn't just leave," Steve insisted, not wanting to think the worst of Harry, not wanting to consider the possibility that he would just leave. However Steve had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew why Harry was gone and he didn't like it one bit.

"Then we'll check hospitals, just in case," Natasha said, trying to reassure the obviously concerned super soldier. He seemed a little out of it still, though he looked as if he was trying to get to his feet and go out looking for the missing wizard regardless of how out of it he felt.

"No, he can't go to our doctors, he needs a wizard healer, he told me," Steve said, trying to gather his thoughts and get them in some resemblance of order so that he could think straight. Whatever had happened he knew that it hadn't been a natural slumber he had been in and right now he wanted to find Harry just to make sure he was okay before demanding to know what he had done.

"Then we'll talk to Fury," Natasha said as Steve managed to finally get to his feet, looking around for some kind of shirt to cover himself. He wasn't entirely comfortable with being topless now that it wasn't just him and Harry.

"He's gone to get Clint, he hasn't gone to a hospital or to a healer," Steve said with a resigned sigh, knowing that this was the case without any hesitation. It had taken him a few moments but this realisation hit him swiftly and he knew that this is what Harry had done. Steve was kicking himself that he hadn't realised before it was too late that Harry had ben planning something like this.

"Why would he do that and not wait for backup?" Natasha asked, curious as to why Harry would just run off half cocked without help or a plan of any description.

"Because he didn't know that back up was coming, he thought he would have to sit it out and he thought it was his fault that Clint was taken," Steve explained, finally finding a t-shirt and pulling it on over his head before going to locate his shoes. He was determined to go after Harry and stop him from doing anything stupid.

-x

Harry knew that it was a trap, that much was pretty damn obvious the moment he had been able to locate Clint using a simple locator spell. He wasn't stupid, they needed him to come to them, it was the only reason not to have protected against such a simple spell. He was stood a short distance from the building that he now knew Clint to be hidden in, on the roof of another warehouse, trying to work out exactly what he was going to do.

He knew that George and whoever else Loki had recruited would be ready and waiting for him but the knowledge that it was a trap was not going to stop him, not now he had already come this far. He honestly had no idea how he was going to do this without being caught, but he had always been fairly good at thinking on the go; it was one of the reasons he made such a good Auror.

He felt confident that he would be able to apparate out once he found Clint, being quite perficient at bringing down anti-apparition wards, having done it countless times; though even that he had been second guessing, unsure whether it would be safe to apparate while pregnant. At that point he had mentally kicked himself and decided that he couldn't do everything based on that almost impossible scenario. He was going to proceed as if he wasn't because that was probably the case, and he couldn't afford to be anything less than completely focused right now.

He had seen a few people come and go from the building he had been surveying for the past hour, but no one he had recognised, so he had no way of knowing whether they were wizard or muggle, but they seemed to be patrolling the perimeter at a regular intervals. Rookie mistake, Harry thought rather smugly, it meant that after only one hour of watching, he was confident he could get in completely unnoticed; and that was even without the disillusionment charm he was planning to use.

He had already figured out the wards they had used. Thankfully there were very few in place; he supposed this was likely because there weren't many available to them if they wanted to allow the location spell to work. Anti-apparition was one of them, however, he knew that this wouldn't cause him a others used were weak and designed to alert people inside when unwelcome strangers approached; Harry was guessing that these were meant for him. The more simple ones that a child could do were the most basic of anti-muggle spells but as easy as they were to erect it was even easier to bring them down, not that he particularly needed to since he was no muggle.

Once he was inside he would have to use more magic to locate Clint and he had no idea how much resistance he was likely to find. What he did hope to achieve, as well as Clint's rescue, was the knowledge of who else, besides George, Loki had recruited to his cause.

It worried him that Kingsley might have just failed to tell him that some of the more dangerous Deatheaters, many of whom Harry himself had tracked down and imprisoned, were now on the run again. He hoped that his concerns about such a thing was unfounded, but he knew all too well how his luck usually went on such things; and Kingsley had failed to tell him so much before sending him here, after all. Sending him here at all had all been very last minute and sudden. Even missions of dire urgency had some element of planning and debriefing before being sent into them. It just made very little sense, especially since arriving here there had been no sense of urgency at all.

Pushing everything else from his mind Harry cast the disillusionment charm upon himself. He needed to focus now, not be thinking of Kinglsey and why he had been sent here in the first place. All that was important was that he was here, this was his mission now and that had to be his priority.

The first step was taking down the wards, an easy enough task and one that he was able to accomplish within seconds. It didn't escape him that it was potentially far too easy but then he already knew that they were expecting him. This didn't mean he was going to make it easy for them.

-x

Clint laughed through the pain, spitting blood out on to the floor. He had bitten his tongue as another jet of red light had hit him and pain had washed over him. He wasn't weak, he had been tortured before, he knew how to separate himself off from it all. There was no way he was going to give Harry up to these people.

"Just tell us," George said softly, his voice weak and broken. He had introduced himself to Clint when he had first been taken and he wasn't the one doing the torturing either. George was the one asking the questions, the man who seemed the most broken and depleted. He seemed genuinely horrified at what the others were doing to Clint but it seemed that he had no power to stop it, or simply lacked the inclination to do so.

"No," Clint spat out, glaring at the red head venomously, at least he hoped that that was how it looked. His arms ached from being suspended above his head and supporting his weight completely. He wasn't sure what it was that was keeping him in this position but there were no ropes or chains, he could only assume that it was magic, his feet not touching the ground.

"We don't want to hurt him, we just need him to get the sphere," George said gently; however, from just behind him there was a snort of amusement. Clint's eyes darted to the man in black robes who was stood leaning back against the wall, arms folded over his chest.

This man looked entirely broken too, though manically evil for it. His cheeks hollowed and sunken eyes that looked dead. Whatever this man had been through in his life it had not been kind to him, in fact it looked as if it had utterly drained the life from him.

"Liar," Clint growled out. He was not about to believe anything these two said. George might have acted nice to him, might not have taken part in the torture but he still wanted the same thing as all the others, information.

"Crucio," the unnamed man from the corner said, pointing a little wooden stick at Clint, who had to brace himself as every inch of his skin felt as if had been set on fire. Harry had cast this curse on him, it had lasted less than a second and this man was not as kind.

"Jugson, stop," George said harshly, going to the man and pushing the wand down so that it was pointing to the ground. Clint gasped for breath as the pain stopped and he was given a second to catch his breath while George and Jugson bickered; he tried to listen but their words were too quiet and his body just hurt too much.

The two of them stopped bickering as a third man entered rather suddenly, dressed similarly to Jugson. He looked far too pleased with himself and Clint had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he knew why this man looked so happy. "He's here," was all that was said before all three of them left the room, leaving Clint very much alone knowing that Harry had come to save him.

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><p>What do you think? Don't forget to leave me a review and let me know. I'm loving writing this story so thank you so much for reading it and hopefully you are enjoying it as much as me.<p> 


	14. Rescue

The Affliction of War

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><p>Here is the next chapter, please take note that there won't be another until the New Year now as I have a lot of edits on Fragmented Soul to do and I will be spending time with my family and of course my six year old daughter over Christmas. Please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think. :)<p>

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><p>Chapter Fourteen - Rescue<p>

"He's gone," Fury raged to his brother. The two of them were in the Director's office, Kingsley having made the tiring trip to America once again and so far he wasn't sure why it was that he had had to do so. There were so many things that, as Minister for Magic, he should have been doing but his family would always be a priority. His brother had called him and as usual he had come running but then he would count Harry as being as good as family so it hadn't just been Nicky that he had come for.

"Who has gone?" Kingsley asked patiently, though he thought that he might already have a clue about the answer. It wasn't as if Harry couldn't manage to get himself into trouble even when surrounded by superhero bodyguards. The idea that Harry would keep himself out of trouble seemed like an impossibility at this point regardless of the measures put in place to protect him.

"Harry; he left the safe house, has probably gone after Agent Barton," the Director raged, pacing the length of his office, rubbing his bald head in frustration. Harry had had one job, to stay hidden so that Loki couldn't find him. He had moved Steve in with him, thinking that that would be the right thing to do, to keep the two of them together but alas now Harry was gone and right into the hands of Loki and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Yes…" Kingsley said a little tiredly. He had been dealing with Harry and his reckless stupidity for the last nine years while the young man had been an Auror for the Ministry so nothing would take him by surprise now. Though, to be honest, he was a little surprised it had taken Harry this long to do anything this idiotic. He had of course tried explaining to his brother what Harry was like before the young man had arrived but it seemed that these warnings had been to no avail.

"I try and keep him safe, I even moved Rogers in there with him and then he just ups and leaves, reckless, stupid…" Fury rambled, though it was more to himself than to his brother now. He needed to vent and he thought that he sounded a little less insane doing so with his brother in the room with him.

"I did try and tell you…" Kingsley said with slight amusement. Watching his brother act like this was was fairly entertaining to him, especially after the warnings he had tried to give before the young wizard's arrival. He was rather confused, however, as to why he had been called here simply because Harry had been himself and run off to save the day.

"Infuriating boy," Fury muttered angrily as if this was something new to Kingsley. In truth though he was more angry at himself than at Harry. He should have predicted this; Kingsley had told him how unpredictable the boy was, how much of a hero complex he had and yet he had thought that, like the rest of the Avengers, Harry would sit and do as he was told. Apparently that was not the case.

Slightly amused by the entire situation and not hugely worried at all, Kingsley sighed. "I agree, but he is more than capable of taking care of himself," he said with a smile to his brother. It was rare that Nick became this worked up, it was a privilege to see the usually composed man come undone in this way. It didn't surprise him that Harry had brought it out in his brother.

"Why did you send him to me to protect then?" Nick raged, turning on his brother now. He had jumped at the chance to have a wizard on his team of superheros but primarily the young man had been here to be protected and Fury couldn't understand why if Kingsley had such absolute faith that Harry could take care of himself.

"Because I wanted him away from all the trouble that was happening, but of course he has ended mixed up in it anyway. But that's Harry for you," Kingsley said with a fond smile. It had been troubling him how Harry managed to always be in the middle of the worst kind of trouble regardless of how much anyone tried to prevent this from happening.

"Barton says he is sick, he's been vomiting. How can he take care of himself when he isn't at his best?" Nick demanded, unsure that Harry was as capable as Kingsley believed him to be. Clint had given him a brief summary of things before leaving Washington and Fury wasn't convinced that Harry was capable of doing very much at all right now.

"I don't think that he's sick, Nicky; Harry will be fine, you will see," Kingsley said with a knowing smile. He had asked Steve the questions he had for a reason and now two weeks on, to hear that Harry wasn't feeling well, made the Minister for Magic a little smug.

"If he isn't sick, what is he?" Fury demanded heatedly. He knew more about the wizarding world than most muggles and he prided himself on that fact. He had grown up with his brother being a powerful magical being, it was part of what had drawn him to S.H.I.E.L.D in the first place. However, he wasn't fully understanding the hints or the knowing smile that his brother had.

"Pregnant, possibly," Kingsley said with a smile. It hadn't been what he had hoped for, he just wanted Harry to settle down and make a life for himself outside of work. In that regard there were a lot of people who had been concerned about him. The thought that Harry might now have a reason to find some sense of normality bigger than just his sanity was thrilling to the Minister.

"Seriously?" Fury asked. This was something that he had not been expecting. In his world male pregnancy wasn't possible. It was something that Kingsley had never mentioned to him before and it was rare that he could ever be taken by surprise but this piece of information did shock him a little bit.

"Maybe, it is just a suspicion of mine," Kingsley said still smiling, wishing that he had some way to confirm it. "This is why I think we need to bring someone else here, someone who Harry can talk to and trust," the Minister said, already having arranged someone to join them in America, though he had been slightly delayed in his arrival.

"You have someone in mind?" Fury asked, knowing that this was a silly question. He was sure that if his brother had thought about it then he had a plan and it was already in motion, Nick had no delusion about that. In that respect they were so alike.

"I tried to get his healer, Harry seems to trust him explicitly and will allow no one else to take care of his medical needs," Kingsley said, sounding a little exasperated with this fact. Draco Malfoy was a very specialised and talented healer, having him on call constantly was expensive but Harry would be treated by no one else. The two of them had some form of agreement and bond which only the two of them understood and Kingsley couldn't argue with that. "However, that particular gentleman is a little preoccupied and therefore unavailable. I do have an alternative suggestion though, someone who fought alongside Harry in the war."

"Fine, if you think it will help," Fury said with exasperation of his own. He knew that Steve would not rest until Harry was back with them alive and well. Natasha was on edge and agitated herself, clearly her feelings for Clint starting to cloud her judgement. If Fury was going to get his Avengers back on form then he needed Harry and Clint back.

"He's a wizard, he'll be able to help Harry and hopefully be able to get him more settled with the Avengers," Kingsley said with pride in his voice; he truly believed that in the unavailability of Draco Malfoy, he had made an excellent choice on who to bring to America. Most of Harry's friends and loved ones were compromised in some way or another because of what was going on but not this gentleman, who had always lived a little out of the public eye, surrounding himself with work, similar to what Harry had done since the war had ended.

"Okay, make it happen, and quickly," Fury agreed, thinking that whoever it was might be able to help them locate Harry and Clint as well if they could get him there soon. Then after a moment of thought, he asked, "how likely is it that Harry's pregnant?"

"I couldn't say," Kingsley said with a sigh. "I suppose it is unlikely, given that muggles aren't supposed to be able to impregnate wizards, and male pregnancies are rare enough as it is on top of that. But we both know Mr Rogers is not exactly an ordinary muggle," Kingsley said thoughtfully, mulling it over as he spoke.

"You think the serum might have made it possible?" Fury questioned had been curious about the combination of the serum and magic but he had never thought that this was possibly. However, he couldn't help but be a little excited about the possibility.

"It might have done, or at least a combination of that and Harry's magical power, which is quite impressive on it's own," Kingsley said with a nod of his head. This was the reason that he had asked the questions he had upon first meeting Steve. Harry was the kind of man where the impossible was far more likely and there wasn't even an explanation as to why.

"We need to pull Harry out of the field if he is," Fury said with a frown. He had been hopeful that having a wizard on the team would benefit him; however he could not, in good conscience, put a pregnant agent in the field. It might take a lot of explaining considering that Harry was a guy, but he was sure that he would be able to think of something.

Kingsley almost laughed at that, knowing how well Harry would take that suggestion. "I agree, but not yet," he told his brother. "Harry won't take kindly to us getting involved in his personal affairs. He probably hasn't even accepted it is possible, given Mr Rogers is muggle, so he presumably just thinks he has a stomach bug or something," he explained, knowing how stubborn Harry could be, and thinking that the young man would ignore his symptoms for as long as possible. "But like I said, this is why I need someone he trusts here with him, so that he has someone to talk to."

"Moves and countermoves," Fury said with a nod of approval. He knew how difficult it was to keep a good balance and tread that particular tightrope.

"Indeed," Kingsley said with a nod, his mind churning over the many possibilities about what was going to happen next. If Harry was pregnant then there was going to be a lot of fall out. He was now thinking that it might be best for all involved if Harry was to remain in America for a while.

"All to keep one young man safe and happy," Nick said a little uncertainty, looking at his brother and trying to read him. He was no longer sure if it was worth it to keep a single man happy. He knew that this man had done a lot for the wizarding world but Fury very much doubted that he was worth this much hassle.

"You know it is about more than that, particularly now we know what Loki is up to," Kingsley said, not entirely convinced that his brother understood why he had sent Harry here. He was certain that Harry needed to be here and not just for protection or happiness either. He was too much of a high profile target now, he needed to lie low for a long while.

"I know, but now we know what Loki is after, wouldn't it just be better for you to take Harry back to England and put him under some of those warding spells of yours?" Fury asked, wondering why it was that Kingsley was so determined to keep Harry in America. It made very little sense to Director Fury who would have been making entirely different calls, if they were his to make.

Kingsley sighed and shook his head. "Harry has done a lot for the wizarding world, I owe it to him to find him peace and happiness. He gave up his childhood to fight for us. As an adult he shouldn't have to give up any quality of life to keep fighting; an actual relationship will probably be good for him and if he really is pregnant then I am not going to keep him from that child's father," Kingsley said stubbornly.

"And if he isn't?" Fury asked curiously. He had never seen his brother care for another person as much as he cared for Harry. He thought that it was sweet but he didn't think that it was very professional. Of course he had a soft spot for his Avenger's but Kingsley seemed to truly care about the young man.

"Are you going to be the one to try and separate him and Mr Rogers?" Kingsley asked with amusement. He could only imagine how that would go, Harry was not one to take things lightly, not when it involved those he cared about. He would pay good money to see his brother attempt to separate the couple.

Fury scowled, but knew that his brother had a point. Steve was completely head over heels, and Harry seemed fairly smitten himself. "You care for him," the director stated with disapproval.

"Like a son," Kingsley said unrepentantly. He was not ashamed of the fatherly affection he had for the young man; he had seen him go through the toughest of times and come out the other side, not only alive, but stronger for it too.

"When does this new man arrive?" Fury asked, resigned to the fact that he was going to be dealing with Harry Potter for a fair while yet, assuming they could locate the young wizard of course. All this talk was all well and good but it was all going on the assumption that they would get him and Barton back alive.

"Right now," Kingsley said as the fire burst to life with emerald green flames.

-x

"We'll find him," Bruce said, trying to reassure Steve; however, he was having very little luck on that front. They were all gathered for a meeting room in the Triskelion, at least Thor, Natasha, Bruce and Steve were. Fury was yet to join them and Harry and Clint were still missing.

They were all sat waiting. Fury had directed them here and then said that he had someone who could help them arriving momentarily and then left. He had now been gone twenty minutes and they were all getting a little restless. Steve was pacing back and forth with a worried expression, Thor stood in the corner of the room, leaning against one wall with his shoulder, hammer in hand, looking serious and focused. Tony, Natasha and Bruce were actually sat down but they all seemed rather tense, which was never a good thing.

"How do you know that?" Steve raged, turning on Bruce, glaring at him. "We could lose both of them today and what then?" Bruce seemed rather taken aback when Steve had turned on him like that, clearly he hadn't thought that the super soldier was in such a state, but apparently he had underestimated Steve's seemingly fragile state of mind.

"Don't say that," Natasha said gently, lost in her thoughts, which were all going along the same lines. "We're not losing either of them," she added with finality. She didn't particularly like Harry but he was her mission, at least keeping him out of Loki's hands was. Clint was her priority and getting him back. He was the only man that she had ever cared about in that way, and she feared that losing him could ultimately destroy her, and she hated that she felt that way too, that she could be made vulnerable over such affections. He was undoubtedly her achilles heel.

"Then tell me how to fix this, how to find them," Steve yelled, now turning his attention to Natasha, who didn't flinch away like Bruce had done. She got to her feet though, glaring up at Steve, daring him to start something because she was more than happy to finish it. With a sigh, Thor stepped forward, preparing to tear the two of them apart if it was needed. Bruce and Tony just sat there looking a little shocked.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," a new voice said. Too busy bickering, not one of them had noticed that Fury and a new face had entered the room. Everyone turned to look to see who it was that had spoken, taking in the small brunette man that was wearing some kind of old man's cardigan, or so it seemed. To the Avenger's he seemed rather withdrawn and soft around the edges, especially compared to them, the kind of man you might expect to find in charge of a library, and none of them were sure how much assistance he was likely to be.

"Who are you?" Tony asked, eyeing up the newcomer with interest. Whoever this man was he certainly didn't seem to be much of anything; about Harry's size, a worse fashion sense and very little confidence or self assurance judging by the way he held himself. Tony, however, had learnt that Harry was not to be underestimated and therefore he wasn't going to underestimate this man either.

"My name is Neville Longbottom, I went to school with Harry," he explained to them, clearly a little nervous about being confronted by such a strange and powerful group. He kept looking to Steve, worried that the super soldier might explode, he seemed so tense. "I fought by his side in the Wizarding War; I know how he thinks, what he is capable of, so I might be able to help you find him," he continued, thinking that he really was their best hope.

"And knock some sense into him," Steve said with a sigh, sinking down into one of the chairs, feeling utterly depleted. He knew that he was never going to find Harry on his own. Whatever Harry had done to him it was so he could go out and find Clint, meaning he wouldn't easily be found. In truth, Steve wasn't sure how he felt about the fact Harry had slipped him something to make him go to sleep. He didn't know if he should feel betrayed or just respect how headstrong, brave and recklessly idiotic the man was.

"Believe me, we've been trying to do that for a long time, doesn't seem to have worked," Neville said kindly, as he approached the large table in the middle of the room, Fury following, and the two of them taking seats. He did know that he was there to help with more than just locating Harry though. "Maybe we just need a super soldier to help us," he added with a smile. Kingsley had told him that Steve had strong feelings for Harry and to treat the man with care. It seemed that Kingsley was determined to match the two of them up, or so it had seemed to Neville and he actually agreed. Harry's promiscuous behaviour had always been a worry, he really did need to settle down.

"You're not going to use magic are you?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes at Neville in suspicion. "The last time someone who wasn't Harry did that I almost died," he added, thinking that he'd very much like not to repeat that feeling. It had been far too close a call for him, he had not appreciated the reminder that he wasn't immortal and wasn't going to live forever.

"No, Kingsley is attempting to locate a second pair of the bracelets like those that Harry has, so that I can use magic without hurting you, but so far he hasn't had much luck; they are extremely rare," Neville explained with a frown. He would be able to use his magic, just not around Tony or anything electrical of importance, at least for the moment.

"So what use are you?" Natasha asked snidely, trusting this man very little. She understood that this man had known Harry and could understand the way he thought in ways that they could not but that didn't mean she liked him or trusted him for that matter. To her he was just another new face, just like Harry had been.

"Neville knows Harry, he has a better chance of finding him than we do," Fury said, wanting to take control of the situation. He was hoping that Natasha would at least respect him, if he instructed her to listen to the young wizard. "Right now we have no idea where either Harry or Agent Barton are; but it is likely that Harry has gone after Clint, which means that there is a chance that the two of them are together. Listen to Neville, let him do what he can to help."

"I have known him since he was eleven years old and shared a dormitory with him for six years, I know him better than almost anyone. I know he can be hard work, but trust me, I can help you," Neville said, having expected some form of hostility from these people. "All of you," he added, though he didn't take his eyes from Steve; the man was clearly deep in thought, obviously worrying over something and Neville knew that to be Harry.

"What action do you suggest, young Longbottom?" Thor asked using a rather peculiar pronunciation of his name, as he pushed off from the wall and went to take a seat at the table, opposite Fury and Neville, and placing the hammer there within easy reach. He was at least willing to hear this young man out, if it would help their friends.

"Oh," Neville said, looking a little flustered to be addressed and watched so intently by the Thunder God. "Well, I already tried a tracking spell on Harry, but that didn't work; not that that is a surprise." He hadn't been shocked that Harry had protected himself from tracking spells. The young man was going to be more paranoid than Mad Eye Moody had been one day if he wasn't careful.

"Why?" Tony asked, confused as to why it hadn't worked. He found this whole magic thing fascinating, even if he was quite determined to stay away from it now that he knew what it could do to him. He still didn't understand the limitations of it yet, which apparently there were if Longbottom had failed to find Harry.

"Because Harry hates the idea of anyone else, particularly those he loves or cares about, ever being in danger," Neville added, resisting the urge to glance at Steve, "so he will want to keep you out of it. He will have deliberately put spells on himself to prevent us from finding him with magic."

"Could you not try that on Clint instead?" Bruce asked, curious if that was a route they could go down. "If we are acting on the assumption that Harry is trying to get to Clint, then surely we can look for Clint too and find Harry in the process."

"That is probably how Harry is locating Clint, but having never met the man myself, I can't," Neville explained. It was one of the big limitations of the tracking spell. He was feeling a little useless at this point, and he would have much rather been living his quiet, sedentary life but Harry had saved his life once before so he owed it to Harry to help him now. He had come to America to help, not just with locating Harry but also to encourage him to settle with the Avengers a bit more but they were very short on options at the moment. He did have one idea on how he could help though.

"Then I ask again, what the hell use are you?" Natasha snapped, wondering why this man had been brought here if he couldn't help them. She was getting more and more on edge with every passing second; Steve was faring no better. Both of the people they loved the most in the world were missing and there was nothing much they could do about it.

"I know the man who is working with Loki," Neville admitted with a sigh. He still couldn't believe that George would have chosen to work against Harry like this, but that was apparently what had happened. "I am going to try and track George, because Harry will probably try to save him too, as well as Clint. So I am hoping they will all be together."

"Why would Harry try and save George when he's working against us?" Tony asked, feeling a little bitter that Harry would try to help the man who nearly killed him, even if that hadn't been the direct intention.

"Because that is what Harry does, he saves people," Neville said with fond exasperation, before going on. "George lost his twin brother in the War, and Harry blames himself for every death that happened because he thinks that he could have prevented them somehow. George never got over his brother's death, Harry would want to save him if he could."

"Not everyone can be saved," Tony said with some regret in his tone. He had seen people die, good people and he knew from bitter experience that sometimes those that deserved to live couldn't always do so. He had seen too many good men perish trying to do the right thing.

"Yes, well, Harry has a lot of deaths weighing him down, he cut himself off from everyone after the war because of his guilt. He has a Godson he can't look at or spend time with because both his parents died in the War, fighting a battle Harry should have fought alone, at least that is the way he see's it." Neville couldn't help but look at Steve as he said this, wondering how much he knew about Harry's past.

"He has a Godson?" Steve asked curiously, looking at Neville as if he might hold some of the answers to Harry and the way he thought. He couldn't help but think, with Neville's help, he might be able to get closer to Harry, stop him from running off and doing stupid things.

"Yes," Neville said, glad that Steve had picked up on this. "His name is Teddy, he's nine years old," he said, looking Steve right in the eye as he said this and allowing the super soldier to fully take this in.

"Can we do this tracking spell already?" Natasha asked impatiently. This information about Harry was fascinating, but at the moment their friends were in danger and she hated that they were wasting time standing around chatting when they could have been doing anything else and potentially saving their lives. What good would it do any of them, knowing about Harry's family and his past if he ended up dead.

"Yes, though I suggest we head out of the city so we don't take out the power in here," Neville pointed out, thinking that he didn't want to cause any problems for the muggles of this government agency that was likely to be riddled with complicated bits of technology that would clash with his magic. He was going to have to be extremely careful with how much magic he used while he was helping these people it seemed, at least until Kingsley found some way to stabilize it, like he had for Harry. "I didn't do it before because I thought you guys would want to head there the very second I knew where they are, in case they figure out what we're doing and move."

"Then let's do it," Steve said impatiently. "Bruce, you won't want to be in combat so go with Longbottom, we'll wait to hear from you." With these final barked commands everyone started to move, knowing that Steve was not to be challenged. It was without question that he was in charge, no one seemed to know why, that was just the way it was.

-x

Harry could feel his heart pounding violently in his chest; it was taking a lot to keep his breathing under control and in truth he had never felt more nervous or panicked in his life than on this rescue mission. He wasn't sure what made this one so different but every inch of him was on edge, his entire body feeling as if it were charged with electricity. He had his wand out, ready for an attack, not because he needed it because while he was wearing those bracelets he didn't; however it made him feel safer, more confident in himself. His wand was basically a security blanket, a fact he couldn't really deny.

He had managed to get inside of the building easily enough, the patrols outside were predictable and fairly useless, more than likely relying on the wards that he had easily been able to bring down before anyone had seen him. Despite all of this, Harry couldn't shake the feeling that it had all been a little bit too easy.

Loki was no where to be seen, George suspiciously absent too, at least for the moment. In fact Harry had come across no one as he had made his way through the maze of haphazardly built corridors. Someone had clearly attempted to convert this warehouse into some form of office; however, they had failed miserably and given up halfway through the project, leaving it unfinished and much like a construction zone.

Because the building had been unused for so long it was relatively easy for Harry to spot signs of life and he was able to tread the most frequently used corridors without using magic to lead the way. Footprints in the dust and even, on occasion, fresh blood too had shown recent signs of activity.

Harry couldn't be sure that he was going in the right direction or that Clint would be alive if he did somehow manage to find him but he had to try. He was used to this, it was what he had been trained to do. It should have been easy, but with his stomach churning and his nerves making every inch of his skin tingle, he was not as laid back as he usually was for these missions.

He had expected to have come across someone by now, it was too easy. He couldn't contain his nerves that seemed to multiply everytime he took another step deeper into the building. He needed to find Clint and quickly; he didn't want to be here. He didn't feel safe, his nerves making his stomach feel so much worse. The nausea had set in quickly when he had left the safe house and had only worsened the longer that he had been out in the open.

"I hoped you wouldn't come," a familiar voice said sadly from behind him, making Harry turn around sharply and point his wand at George, a man whom he had considered his brother, a friend and someone that he could reply on.

"Of course I was coming," Harry returned, lowering his wand slightly. He didn't want to fight George; he wasn't sure how he would be able tell Molly that he had injured, if not killed, one of her children when she had already lost so much.

"I'll take you to him," George said causing Harry to look at him as if he had gone completely mental.

"You know that you're not meant to be helping me, right?" Harry asked, looking skeptical as to why George would chose to help him when he was apparently allied with the enemy. By all accounts it just didn't make any sense.

"I never wanted him to get hurt," George said with a shrug as he motioned for Harry to follow him, turning his back and starting to walk away. Lacking any better ideas but still very unsure about what to do, Harry started following his former friend.

"Then why are you doing this?" Harry demanded, unsure of whether or not he could trust what George was doing. Harry truly wanted to think that his former friend would never hurt him but now he just couldn't be sure of that so he remained very much on edge, wand up and overly alert.

"I told you," George said with a sigh, "I just want Fred back. I know you say that it can't be done but I have to try." Harry genuinely felt pity for George. He was missing part of himself and that feeling would never go away, Harry knew all too well the guilt and the pain because he lived with it every day. He had been living on the brink of it consuming him for the last nine years, George had allowed it to take over him completely.

"I'm not going to argue with you," Harry said sadly. "It can't be done but you know that. I still don't understand why you're helping me now, why take me to Clint?"

"Because they're hurting him," George said, not turning to look Harry in the eye and genuinely sounding rather ashamed of himself. "I can't let them keep hurting him like that."

"Who's hurting him?" Harry asked, thinking that as long as George kept talking then he was going to get all the information from him that he could.

"Jugson, Selwyn and Mulciber. They agreed to help Loki if they were freed from Azkaban," George explained as they walked, going deeper and deeper into the warehouse. Harry was trying very hard to remember each turn that they took but there were so many. It was rather fortunate that he was intending to apparate out once he found Clint.

"I put them all in Azkaban myself," Harry said with a sigh, carrying on the rouse of having a genuine conversation when really he was just trying to get as much information as possible. It was easy to keep it going, it felt so natural, as if they had done it many times before and of course they had, many years ago as children.

"Yes," George agreed. "They have rather enjoyed inflicting pain on your friend," he said as they came to a stop outside a door. "He's in here but he's pretty beaten up, I'm not sure that he'll be able to walk."

"Come with us," Harry said, looking at George pleadingly. He didn't want to leave him behind, not after he had helped him. He knew that Loki would not take kindly to George doing this and would most likely be punished; Harry needed to give him a way out.

George looked torn, unable to give up on his last and only hope to get Fred back. It was worth the risk to him, there was nothing he wouldn't do to be reunited with his twin one way or another. Sadly he started to shake his head, knowing that he couldn't give up and not know one way or another if Loki could bring Fred back. "I can't," he said, unable to look Harry in the eye.

"Yes you can," Harry insisted, "you need to."

"No, you need to take your new friend and go before they find you here," George insisted, opening the door that they were stood in front of, revealing Clint. He was in a bad way, suspended in mid-air by what seemed to be nothing. He was bleeding from several contusions across his body. He was shirtless, only a pair of jogging bottoms covering his modesty but even those were caked in blood.

Harry couldn't be sure until he looked a little closer but he was sure that Clint had been healed and then the cuts redone to cause him more pain. It was horrifying to see him in such a state, Harry was grateful that he had been able to locate him and given the chance to rescue him. It didn't look like he was going to last much longer if left here, he was already unconscious.

"George…" Harry tried to say as he took a step into the room and the smell of blood and urine hit him. Clearly Clint had just been left to soil himself, completely undignified and entirely humiliating. However, it wasn't this that bothered Harry, he had seen and smelt so much worse in his lifetime, a lot of it he himself had experienced at the Dursley's as a child.

His stomach had already been a little on edge however, and the smell just tipped him over the edge. He couldn't finish what he had been about to say, he could barely even turn away from George before he bent over and threw up the chicken and vegetables that he had eaten with Steve earlier in the evening.

"Harry, are you…?" George tried to ask before looking around slightly panicked. Clearly something wasn't right, they had run out of time. "You have to leave," he said quickly. "Knock me unconscious, take Clint and go, Loki's back."

Harry, still trying to catch his breath and still feeling entirely unsure of himself and whether or not he would be able to make it without throwing up again, nodded his head, venturing further into the room. He knew that there wasn't time to be sick, there wasn't time for anything other than leaving, not if he wanted to make it out of there without being caught.

Turning and aiming his wand at George, Harry shouted a stunning spell, watching with regret as his friend fell to the floor. He didn't have time to check that he was alright, he could only pray that George hadn't seriously injured himself as he fell, instead turning his attention to Clint, trying to ease him down gently.

It would have been a lot easier if Clint had been conscious, but there wasn't time to try and rouse him, they had to get out now. It was unfortunate that Harry just wasn't strong enough to lift the muscle bound man himself, so holding him on the ground, Harry focused on the safe house and apparated away.

-x

Thor, Natasha, Tony and Steve were all suited up and ready to move the moment they were told where to go. Bruce had gone off with Neville to perform the tracking spell away from the Triskelion, and from Tony's reactor too. No one wanted to put it to the test again.

Steve was pacing, clearly agitated, wanting to know where Harry was, needing to know that he was safe. Natasha, though not pacing as Steve was, was just as on edge as her fellow Avenger. Thor seemed completely at ease with the entire situation, unperplexed by the fact Harry and Clint were missing. Tony just looked bored, with nothing to entertain him, he was like a small child with mischief on his mind.

"I wish they'd hurry up," Steve muttered as he flexed his fists, the urge to lash out and punch something was undeniably strong but he resisted, thinking that it wouldn't be a great idea to do something like that, not here at least.

In truth he was still struggling a little bit with how to react to what Harry had done. He just wanted him back in his arms, though at the same time, he was furious that his lover had drugged him and run off on a suicide mission. The problem was, the anger that he felt was completely dwarfed by how in love he was with the young wizard. He honestly had no idea how he was going to react upon seeing him again.

"Call Barton and Longbottom," Fury said coming into the room and looking rather pleased with himself. "Get them back here as soon as possible."

"What, why?" Tony asked, a little taken aback by these rather strange orders; the four of them were ready for action, waiting on the location of George, which would hopefully tell them where Loki was holding Clint hostage, the location where Harry was no doubt too.

"Potter has been in contact," Fury said and at this Steve snapped his head up, looking at the Director with wide eyes, unable to believe what it was that he was hearing.

"When?" Steve demanded at once. "Is he alright, where is he?"

"It was minutes ago," Fury said calmly. It would not do to lose his head, not when it seemed that Steve was so close to doing so. "He is back at the safe house, I've sent a team."

"Clint?" Natasha asked with concern, fearful that Harry might not have succeeded in his mission, that he had gone into enemy territory for no reason. Or worse that he had succeeded but had found a body. She was scared that Harry might have been too late and had been unable to save Clint.

"He is there but badly hurt. The team I sent is to extract them both and includes medical experts, which is why the four of you have not been sent," Fury explained when Natasha went to ask why she had not been sent as part of the extraction team.

"How bad?" Thor asked, concerned for his team mate. He knew humans to be more fragile than Asgardians, their lives ended so much quicker. The Thunder God was more than a little fond of these humans now and he didn't want to see anything happen to them, even Harry, the newest member of them.

"The torture was vigorous," Fury said with a frown. He didn't want to think about what Barton had been through. He would need to be checked over and maybe even remain in the hospital for a little while. He just hoped that the damage that had been done was at the very least reversible.

"He is going to be okay, right?" Natasha asked with concern, thinking of the worst thing that could have happened. Her overactive imagination was thinking of the most horrible ways that a man could be tortured. She knew Clint was a strong man, that he could survive almost anything but he wasn't immortal, he was still only human.

"We'll need to access the damage," Fury said with deep would be at the Triskelion within the next twenty minutes, from then they would be able to figure out what they needed to do and Harry would have to debrief them all about what had happened. He owed them all, especially Steve, an explanation.

"Banner is calling," Tony announced suddenly, his Ironman suit hooked directly into Jarvis and his communication software. "They have a location."

"Loki will be there," Thor said, gripping his hammer, this was not an opportunity that they could afford to miss. Once Loki realised that Clint was gone they would likely move locations hating that they had been discovered. If they were going to do anything then it needed to be now.

"Go," Fury said firmly, taking the decision away from those that would have been swayed by the fact their missing teammates were returning. "Potter and Barton will need medical attention before anyone can see them, there is time."

The Avengers nodded, all of them agreeing, though some more reluctantly than others, that they needed to make this strike. So, with Banner and Longbottom on route to location, the others headed in that direction too, determined to cut Loki off at the source and find out what was going on.

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><p>So what did you think? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter and as ever, thank you so much for your continued support for this story. I am so glad that you're all enjoying it as much as you are. Merry Christmas (if you celebrate) and have a great New Year.<p>

Also there is now a Youtube video to accompany this story. Please search for The Affliction of War. The video is by BickyMonster and is done to the song, I'm a mess by Ed Sheeran. The Link is also in my profile page.


	15. Loki's Leverage

The Affliction of War

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><p>I know I said I probably wouldn't have another chapter before the new year but it was here and finished so I thought that I would post it for you. I'll now be working on the next update of Fragmented Soul which was meant to be with you on Christmas Day. So until that is finished, please enjoy this chapter.<p>

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><p>Chapter Fifteen - Loki's Leverage<p>

"Get the hell off me," Harry snarled to the poor muggle doctor who was trying to check him over despite his constant insistence that he was absolutely fine. He had been stuck in the medical room at the Triskelion for the past half an hour. No one other than the medical experts had been there with him and he was getting wholly sick of being poke and prodded. Right now he didn't exactly feel fine but it had nothing to do with the mission he had just been on or because of any injuries as he had sustained none.

"Mr Potter, please, we need to make sure…" the doctor tried to say; however, Harry was not having any of it, literally pushing the doctor away from him, thinking that using his wand was a little too extreme in this instant. However he wasn't going to just allow them to have their way, there was only one man he trusted enough to give him any medical attention and it wasn't this man. He didn't care how qualified he was, he was not a wizard, nor was he Draco Malfoy who owed him a life debt.

"No, go and look after Clint, I'm fine!" Harry insisted firmly, fighting to get out of the bed he had been placed in. "I want to see Steve," he carried on. He was desperate to see his lover, he needed to know that the super soldier was okay and that he wasn't angry about what Harry had done. Harry felt as if he needed to explain why he had done what he had done, he wouldn't be able to stand it if Steve was angry at him.

"Mr Barton has a specialised team of doctors with him, I am here to help you, please just allow me to do my job," the doctor said with exasperation. His patients were not usually so stubborn. Harry, however, still continued to fight him, not wanting for the muggle doctor to do anything to him, not knowing or trusting him. Plus he wasn't sure what affect muggle medicine would have on him, he had never needed treatment before he had attended Hogwarts.

"And I have a specialised healer, he is the only one I permit to treat me, now back off," Harry snarled viciously, getting seriously pissed off by the fact the doctor wouldn't listen to him. Clearly this man didn't like hearing the word no. He had never trusted anyone to handle his health other than Draco, who had trained as a healer when they had left Hogwarts and all of the best training that his families money could buy and now he was the best without question.

The two of them may not have been close during their time at Hogwarts but since the war and growing up into intelligent and respectable young men, the two of them found that they understood each other a little better. They would never be the best of friends or in fact friends at all really but they trusted one another. Their families shared life bonds and that would link them and any future children together for the foreseeable future, something neither man minded too much. They could both respect the power and respect that their family names held.

"Mr Potter, please, I need to make sure that you're okay," the doctor said with more insistence. He was under strict orders from Fury himself to make sure that both Clint and Harry were in good health. Barton was unconscious thankfully and therefore not kicking up any fuss; the same could not be said for Harry. What they had been shocked to discover however was that Barton's injuries were already starting to heal, the doctors had all been rather baffled by this until Harry had admitted to them that he had played a hand in it.

He had been taught a few basic healing spells so that while he was in the field he could tend to himself. It wasn't enough to fully heal and get himself back to full health, however it was enough for him to live and that was what he had been able to do for Clint. He had also been able to knock him unconscious so that he didn't feel any of the pain until he was back in safe hands and able to receive medication.

"If you prod at me one more time I'm going to make you regret it," Harry snarled dangerously, attempting to get off the bed once again, this time with a little more force. He was a little worried what might happen if this muggle started to run tests on him. He knew that he wasn't hurt but if the doctor was insistent then he might very well get a shock if he ran blood work. A combination of magic and the possibility of pregnancy too could be a little bit of a surprise for the muggle doctor and he didn't want to be the cause of the downfall of the statute of secrecy.

"Leave the man alone," Fury said as he entered the room, striding towards Harry and ushering the tired looking doctor away. His presence was one that encompassed the room, dominating over all of them. Nick knew that with how stubborn Harry was there was no chance the doctor was going to get his way. Also with what Kingsley had told him he was pretty sure that he didn't want the doctor running too many tests any more than Harry did.

"Director Fury," Harry said with relief. "Where's Steve? I have to see him, is he alright?" Nick did not miss the glare that Potter sent the departing doctor who was clearly very happy to be leaving the room. It was becoming clear to Nick that his brother was right and that Harry was more than a little aware that he had something worth concealing. Kingsley had said that Harry might be in denial about it, however it didn't seem that denial was not the right word, more that he was just trying to hide it from everyone else around him.

"Rogers isn't here," Fury said pointedly. "Upon waking up and realising that you were gone he attempted to go and track you down." The Director knew that he was bending the truth a little here but he was looking for reactions and the crestfallen expression on Harry's face was just what he had been looking for.

"I was meant to be there when he woke up, the sleeping draft was meant to make him sleep until morning. He was never meant to know that I was gone," Harry said, truly heartbroken that he had misjudged the quantity of potion to give his lover. He had never wanted Steve to worry about what was going on, he just couldn't stand back and do nothing while Clint was hurting. He had thought that he would have been back by the time the potion wore off, he was almost sure that he should have been.

"The serum in his system burnt off the potion quickly; from what I can tell he was only out for maybe ten minutes," Fury informed him with a sigh, believing that Harry truly did have the best of intentions. "He quickly realised where you had gone and we drafted in help to track you down, knowing that we'd need magical assistance."

"Another wizard," Harry said with dawning realisation and Fury nodded in confirmation. "Steve is alright though, he knows that I'm back here, that I'm safe and that Clint is too, right?" He really didn't care about which other wizard had been brought in to help, he knew they wouldn't have brought in anyone who couldn't be trusted; Harry trusted Kingsley enough to make those calls even now, after the dubious methods used to get him to America in the first place. It was not his top priority, whoever had been brought in to help could be dealt with later, all Harry cared about right now was Steve, he just wanted to see him.

"He'll be back soon, then you can ask him for yourself," Fury said with a small smile. He didn't think that making Harry sweat a little was a bad thing after what he had done. In fact he thought that Harry rather deserved to sit and stew in his own worry for a little while. "Barton is alive because of what you did Potter, despite your questionable methods to get him back no one can deny this fact."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry said as he finally managed to get out of the bed and stand on his own two feet. He hadn't even permitted for the muggle doctors to undress him so he was still fully clothed and desperate for a shower. He hated hospitals, magical or otherwise, he had seen too many people die in them for his liking.

-x

When the decision had been made to go to the location Neville had found, regardless of knowing that Harry and Clint were safe, none of the Avenger's had expected to find what they found, which was almost nothing. The warehouse they had come across was deserted, the only body that had been present was of the red head, George. Consequently he was the only thing that they found, there was no other sign of any other occupants anywhere and they scouted the entire building from top to bottom. Neville had identified the unconscious man as George and then confirmed that he had been knocked out by a stunning spell and wasn't dead as they had first thought he might be. They had then all unanimously agreed to take him with them to question him and to see if they could find out some information on Loki.

What had surprised them was how empty the warehouse had looked. Almost as if no one had inhabited the space for years. The only sign of life in the whole warehouse had been George and the room he had been found in, which had had the distinctive odour of blood and other bodily fluids that no one had really wanted to think about. It was the room that Clint had clearly been held in against his will, the Avengers had not wanted to linger too long in this particular room.

This was why George now resided, still unconscious, in a holding cell at the Triskelion, still unconscious for the moment, Neville had advised against waking their new prisoner from the stunning spell. It was always best to wake from them naturally to prevent the most awful of headaches that not even potions could touch.

The other Avengers, after finding nothing at the warehouse and feeling a little deflated from it, had returned to the Triskelion and were debriefing Fury on how this small mission had gone. There was very little to tell considering how empty the place had been when they had arrived but that didn't mean that Fury didn't want to be told everything. He needed to know about the room they had found that had presumably held Clint. The fact that the place was so empty only proved how powerful the people helping Loki were. That they could make a building seem as if it had been uninhabited for years in less than an hour was impressive.

"Is Barton here?" Natasha asked once Fury had been told everything that he needed to know about the mission. She had been wanting to ask ever since they had returned, desperate to see her friend whom she thought of so highly of. She wanted to make sure that he was alright because goodness knows what had been done to him while in the hands of Loki. She had seen that room and was genuinely scared for him. It had been bad the last time for Clint but now Loki had the help of wizards who were easily capable of causing a lot of pain and even death with a single word if what Harry had told them was true, which she believed it was.

"He's in the medical centre," Fury told her, "He's still unconscious but Potter managed to heal him fairly well before we got there. The medical team is taking care of him now and he'll live." The relief on Natasha's face was quite evident and just from that he knew that if given the opportunity the two of them would want to be together.

"Can I see him?" Natasha asked and Fury nodded, thinking that it would be nice if Clint woke up to a friendly face. The dedication to one another that those two had was not one that he wanted to stand between any more. S.H.I.E.L.D frowned upon agents forming unions but these two deserved to find some happiness with each other.

"I'll take you to him," Nick said to her before turning to Steve before he could ask about Harry, which he could tell he was about to. "He is in living quarters thirty-four on the fifteenth floor, he is in perfect health and even refused the doctors checking him over."

Steve remained silent, nodding as he was given this information. He was torn about whether or not to go to his lover and see him. After what Harry had done Steve was unsure if he should or not. He loved Harry, there was no doubt about that, but knowing what Harry had done… he honestly didn't trust himself to react well when he saw him, though Steve knew he couldn't avoid him forever.

-x

The moment Harry had closed the door on the small private quarters he had been allocated by Fury, he had headed straight for the showers. He just needed time to calm down and just think on his own. Stripping down and turning the water on Harry stepped under the cascade of hot water.

He didn't last long on his feet though. Sinking to the floor, Harry curled into a ball and let the tears out. He wasn't sure why he was crying but a sudden wave of emotion had just overwhelmed him and he couldn't explain where it had come from, only that he simply needed to cry. He had drugged a man he cared for deeply, run off into known danger when he thought he might be pregnant, putting his life on the line and then left his friend behind.

He had rescued Clint and that was almost worth it but was it really when he thought he might have a child in his belly, his and Steve's baby. Of course he had no way of knowing if he was pregnant or not; however, with no other symptoms and the constant nausea, he had no other explanation as to what it could be and he didn't think that he could fully wrap his mind around that concept.

"Harry," a voice called out, sounding inquisitive, almost uncertain. Harry recognised it as Steve but he remained silent, the water pounding down around him. He sat, curled in his little ball under the downpour of hot water, silently crying to himself. "Are you in here?" Steve called and this time his voice sounded closer.

"Here," Harry managed to croak out. He had the sudden overwhelming urge just to be close to his lover, needing for Steve to be close to him. The bathroom door slowly creaked open revealing the Captain's large frame.

"Goodness, are you okay?" Steve asked; he didn't even think twice before climbing into the tiny shower cubicle with the smaller man, sliding down the wall to sit beside him and taking him into his arms. Steve was still fully clothed but he cared very little for this, he also didn't care that the cubicle was barely big enough for one, so for the two of them it was fairly cramped, he just wanted to hold Harry in his arms.

Harry, without hesitation, wrapped his arms around Steve's neck, sobbing into his chest uncontrollably. The super soldier didn't know what to do; he just sat in the shower with water streaming down all around them, his naked lover crying in his arms, just holding him.

-x

"How are you feeling?" Natasha asked as Clint opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings, feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact he seemed to have been saved. There were hazy memories of what had happened after his captor's had announced that Harry was there, until this moment he hadn't been sure that it had been real.

"Like I've been hit with a truck," Clint groaned, not even attempting to move, his body hurt too much. It even hurt to breath, he could barely turn his head to look at Natasha but he managed it. "What happened?"

"Harry rescued you," Natasha said, reaching her hand out and taking Clint's, being careful not to jar him in fear of hurting him. The doctors had told her of the damage that had been done to him, the scarring that he would have. Some of it they just couldn't explain, it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. This hadn't surprised Natasha at all, she could only imagine what had been done to Clint during his short stint in captivity. From what she had been told she could only be grateful that he hadn't been in Loki's hands any longer.

"Harry…" Clint said with a groan, his eyes closing in a grimace. "It should never have been him," he added, coughing a little and wincing in pain as he did, his body protesting with each movement.

"He drugged Steve and ran off before anyone could stop him," Natasha explained. She didn't understand why Clint thought that it shouldn't have been Harry to rescue him, but he was on so many drugs right now so she didn't want to question him to much.

"He shouldn't have," Clint mumbled as a doctor came over to them to check on his vitals. Natasha gave Clint an odd look but thought better of raising an issue with this. She was more than grateful for what Harry had done and intended to tell him so when she saw him. If it hadn't have been for him then Clint might not have made it back to them alive; she wouldn't forget that.

"He needs his rest," the doctor said and Natasha nodded, retrieving her hand back and getting to her feet. However, before she left she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Clint's temple, lingering there for a moment before leaving without saying a word.

-x

Once Steve had dried them both off, he had moved himself and Harry, both of them now naked, to the single bed. The room they had been given in the Triskelion was basic, a single bed, bedside table, grey walls and white bed sheets. The ensuite was just a shower, sink and a toilet, there really was nothing to it.

The two of them lay on the tiny bed with nothing on, barely fitting on the single mattress but holding on to one another as if their lives depended on it. Harry had stopped crying but he still hadn't said anything and Steve was at a loss for what to do now so he just held on to his lover for all he was worth.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly, mumbling into Steve's chest. He was a little ashamed of his miniature meltdown and in truth he had no idea where it had come from. He still wasn't sure how he was going to explain it to Steve either, not if he couldn't explain it to himself. He was sure that it was far too early to be having hormonal surges if he was pregnant.

He knew that he would have to go and get it confirmed one way or another before too long, he couldn't keep banking on what if's and maybes. Right now it was just before dawn and he was more than a little tired. It had been a long day; it felt like an age since he had been reunited with Steve and had such amazing sex with him, both in bed and in the shower.

"It's okay," Steve said quietly, stroking the still damp raven hair, "sleep love, we can talk in the morning," he added. He didn't want to stress Harry out by talking about things now; they were both tired and after the night they'd both had they needed the sleep. "Love you," he said in a whisper as he kissed the top of Harry's head, lips ghosting over the lightning shaped scar as he tightened his hold on him, grateful that he had his lover back in his arms.

It was bound to be an eventful day when they woke up, with George in a holding cell ready to be interrogated, something Harry didn't know yet, and Clint in the medical centre recovering from his injuries, not to mention Loki still on the run and looking for the missing sphere's. There was a lot to do but first Steve was determined that he was going to figure out what was going on with had a few things to work out, including the apparent hero complex that the smaller man had.

-x

Harry woke up to the sensation of warm lips upon his chest, kissing their way down to his nipples. Steve took the left into his mouth, sucking on it as his fingers played with the right. Harry groaned with pleasure, his dream like state lifting as he realised that these sensations were not part of his subconscious but very, very real. The bed was so small that Steve was lying on his side, Harry on his back but right at the very edge of the bed, his shoulder half over the edge.

"Steve," Harry muttered, reaching his hand up to run through soft blond hair as the older man continued to kiss his way down his lover's chest. This was not what Harry had been expecting but he was quickly realising that this was the best way to wake up.

Moving his way down Harry's chest, maneuvering himself with some difficulty down the narrow bed, Steve took the base of his lover's erection in one hand, moving the tip to his lips, his tongue circling the head. The super soldier had to use his free hand to hold on to Harry's waist, to stop him from thrusting upwards too vigorously, fearing that they might both topple off the bed if that happened.

The wanton moans and pleading for more were enough to turn Steve on to the point that he felt as if he could come just from listening to Harry. However, he was rather pleased that he had more stamina than that, though he was sure that this was not going to last very long.

In the absence of lube, Steve had to use his saliva, halting his assault on his lover's cock, he coated his fingers. Hitching one of Harry's legs up a little and continuing to pump at his erection he teased at the younger man's entrance, warning him of what was to come. Steve felt too impatient, too needy to wait too much longer, he needed to claim Harry again, to possess him in the most intimate way and just be glad that he hadn't died.

Pushing the single digit inside, Harry almost screamed. It burnt a little, the sudden intrusion almost too much for him to handle with such little lubricant. Steve seemed to realise this and instantly slowed down, not wanting to do Harry any harm. "Bathroom," Harry managed to gasp out, a sudden wave of nausea hitting him, hating his bodies awful timing.

At once Steve withdrew from his lover, gathering him up into his arms and carrying him into the bathroom just in time for Harry to vomit bile down the toilet. Considering he hadn't eaten since the meal with Steve the previous evening, a meal he had already thrown up during the rescue of Clint it was a surprise that he had anything in his stomach to throw up.

Of course Steve was right behind him, rubbing his back and simply sitting beside him, whispering comforting words as Harry dry heaved. He had been told that the wizard had refused treatment in the medical centre but Steve couldn't help but feel as if Harry needed to be looked at. Other than take him to a doctor, Steve was at a loss of what to do as Harry slumped back against him, breathing heavily, tears in his eyes.

"Harry, please let the doctors look you over, this isn't right," Steve said gently, holding Harry close to him, terrified of letting him go. They had yet to address what Harry had done in order to escape the safe house and rescue Clint, but now was not the time for that. There were so many other things that needed to be addressed first and at the top of this list was Harry's health.

"No," Harry said sadly, "regular doctors can't help me, I need a wizard healer."

"Then we'll find one," Steve said with determination. He didn't care what it took, he wanted for Harry to be healthy and clearly, right now, he just wasn't. He had no idea what might be wrong, he could only imagine the array of illnesses that could be contracted in the wizarding world.

"I have one," Harry said as he shifted positions a little so that he could look up at Steve, "He's in London though, I wouldn't trust anyone else." He really didn't want to involve any strangers in this, not if he really was pregnant. His urge to protect his potential unborn child from the media storm that would ensue if he was in fact pregnant was overwhelming. There was no way that he could go to anyone he didn't trust explicitly. He couldn't explain that to Steve yet, but eventually the older man would understand, if he wanted to stick around that was. It was a deep rooted fear that Harry had never realised he had. He craved for any children he might have to be raised by both parents in a solid, loving home, something he had never had.

It truly scared Harry to think what might happen if he was pregnant. He might have had many adoring fans and a large extended family to help him if he needed it but he also had enemies. He could easily protect and defend himself against those that wished him harm and had done so many times over but he wasn't sure how well he could protect a child.

"Then I'll take you to London if I have to," Steve said with determination, "I'm not going to just watch and do nothing; you're not well." Harry smiled fondly at his lover, knowing that he meant it too. He was starting to realise that Steve would do anything for him, not that this did anything to relieve his fears.

"I know we need to talk," Harry said with a sigh, knowing that he would have to address what he had done to Steve, though he was more than happy not to go into that now. "But can we get breakfast? I'm starving. I threw up the dinner the other night too."

"You sure you're up for having food?" Steve asked with concern. He didn't want to push Harry too far and even though he would have been more than happy just to go back to bed for a little while, he knew that Harry did have to eat something.

"I can't not eat," Harry said as he slid himself off of Steve's lap and struggling to his feet, though feeling a little dizzy for it. Steve stood up too, ensuring that he was there to steady Harry as he swayed a little. "Plus this room is a little depressing," Harry admitted with a small smile, turning in Steve's arms and resting his head against the solid chest.

"Now we have your old friend, George, in a holding cell we might be able to go back to New York," Steve said, thinking that it would be nice to be able to go back somewhere that they could have some resemblance of normality.

"You have George?" Harry questioned, taking a step back and removing himself from Steve's arms, needing to look at the larger man. "Why didn't you tell me last night?"

Steve just looked at Harry flabbergasted, not really knowing what to say, "Because I found you in the shower having a complete breakdown," he said trying to pull Harry back into his arms, however the smaller man resisted a little.

"I need to go and see him," Harry said with a sigh, turning and leaving the bathroom, searching for his clothing, though Steve was hot on his heels. He didn't want to let his younger lover out of his sight for a moment, not after the last time.

"Harry," Steve said, "You need to slow down a little, there is something else I have to tell you." He didn't know how he was going to explain Neville to Harry but he knew that he needed to. Since Harry had gone off to rescue Clint things had changed but Harry didn't seem to want to stop, pulling on his clothes with as much speed as he could manage.

"He's just scared, he's still grieving," Harry said as he pulled his t-shirt over his head before grabbing for his shoes. "He helped me to find Clint, I wouldn't have been able to without him, I have to talk to him!"

"It's seven in the morning, no one really slept last night, I doubt that George is even awake himself. Slow down, love, please." Steve was not beyond pleading at this point, it was no wonder Harry was sick, he was making himself so by never slowing down and taking the time to rest. The man was on a mission it seemed and there was very little Steve could do to stop him when he put his mind to something.

"I know but I want to stop and see Clint first," Harry explained, "I want to make sure that he's okay." He was sure that Clint would be back up on his feet today, Harry had used a few healing spells that he had been taught during Auror training, essential stuff when you were out in the field and unable to have a healer do the job. It was potentially life saving stuff and Harry knew that without this training it was likely that Clint wouldn't have survived till morning, not that he was going to tell the others that.

"He's fine," Steve said, trying to convince Harry to remain in their room. He had only just got the younger man back and Harry was already determined to leave again, to be back on this mission. Steve could understand the drive to end it but none of them would be able to fight if they weren't in top form, Harry included.

"How do you know that?" Harry demanded, looking at Steve accusingly, wanting to know how it was that his super soldier had the ability to remain so calm and incontrol when he felt as if he were about to explode. Harry had to clench his fists together to stop his hands from trembling.

"I know that because I checked in on him before I came here," Steve said, going to Harry and encircling him in his arms again. He needed to calm his lover before Harry did himself some damage, Steve could feel Harry shaking in his arms, the smaller man gripping on to him tightly. "Clint is fine and George isn't going anywhere, we're going to go and get some breakfast and then we can talk to the others about what we're going to do."

Harry nodded his agreement, knowing that this was the best thing to do. He knew that he should trust Steve, that the super soldier would not lead him wrong. Harry, however, was not accustomed to following orders or working with such a large team of people, he much prefered solitary missions, there were too many complications this way. The biggest of which was that he was sure that he was completely in love with Captain America.

-x

Neville had not been able to sleep much at all, his mind had been too preoccupied with thoughts of George and how far his grief had spiralled him into nothingness. Ideally he needed to talk to Harry but he knew that his old friend just needed some time to rest. So, resigned to a few hours alone, Neville had settled himself in the buildings canteen area with a large mug of coffee, laced with pepper up potion. Not that he would admit to the potion of course.

Lost in his thoughts of what his life had become since the war had ended nine years ago, Neville went down the lonely path of how similar he and Harry were now and he knew that he needed to settle down because otherwise he was never going to have anything other than his work. He had thrown himself into work, just as Harry had done, achieving his mastery in Herbology, which had taken four years and then taking a teaching post at Hogwarts. He loved being back at the school but seeing the young children were a constant reminder of what he lacked in his life.

He was constantly going for drinks in the Leaky Cauldron whenever he could, just so he could see the lovely Hannah Abbott, who was now the Landlady there. He just hadn't worked up the courage to talk to her yet. He vowed to himself that if he survived all this then he was going to just bite the bullet and ask her on a date, after all it seemed that even Harry was finally settling down. Better late than never.

"Neville?" a confused voice said from across the empty room, stirring him from his thoughts. Looking up from where he had been staring pensively into his coffee, Neville saw Harry rushing over to him. It wasn't a moment too soon either as a fraction of a second later they were hugging. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked breaking the hug and looking at his best friend in confusion. He had not been expecting for him to be there, when Steve had mentioned another wizard he had not thought that it would be Neville.

"When you disappeared off to find Clint, Kingsley brought me in to help find you," Neville explained, "Instead we found George but I'm still here to help." It didn't escape Neville's attention that Steve Rogers was standing not a meter away from them, large arms folded across a broad chest as he glared at the two of them. Apparently he wasn't impressed at the fact that Harry was giving another man attention.

"I'm glad they chose you," Harry said with a smile, hugging Neville once again, taking him by surprise, "I've honestly missed you." They hadn't seen each other in a good few years, at least not properly. They usually saw each other in passing at the memorial service but they rarely had a chance to stop and talk to one another, Harry was usually too keen to escape as soon as possible to make small talk.

"I've missed you too, Harry," Neville said, a little shocked at the emotional outburst that was so unlike the Harry they knew and loved now. The Auror training had taught the famous defeater of Voldemort to be more refined than that and to think more clearly, without involving emotions, clearly something had changed in him. "We all have," he added, still holding on to his friend.

"How is everyone?" Harry asked detaching himself from Neville again and this time taking a seat at the table, Steve joining them, sitting himself beside his lover and taking Harry's hand within his own. Harry was feeling a little guilty that he hadn't been in contact with his old friends in a while but the truth was it hurt too much to see them all moving on with their lives when he simply couldn't.

"Worried about you, mainly," Neville said with a small smile, "But they're good, I mean mostly they are. Andromeda is having a little trouble with Teddy, he's rebelling a little bit and she's a little too old to be dealing with it but Draco visits when he can. Apparently Teddy asks after you a lot."

"I feel as if I failed him," Harry said sadly. "I'll go and see them when this is over, I think I've got a lot of time to make up for where Teddy is concerned." Harry pondered over that for a few moments before turning to Steve and smiling, "Would you come with me, to meet my weird and wonderful family?"

"If you wanted me to, then of course," Steve said with a smile, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss upon Harry's temple. Steve couldn't help but think how promising it was that Harry wanted him to meet his family. It meant that he saw the two of them as more than just a brief thing, how it would work he didn't know, especially with them living in completely different countries but there was hope.

"Kingsley was right, you two are perfect together," Neville said in amusement as Harry visibly relaxed, leaning into Steve and allowing the larger man to embrace him and hold him there, trusting him completely. It was a relationship Neville envied, he wanted to find something like this. If Harry could get over his issues then so could he.

-x

Thor and Tony, the moment they were up and about, had been sent after another of the spheres. Director Fury had informed them of such when he had arrived in the canteen and found Steve, Harry, Neville, Bruce and Natasha having breakfast together. Clint was still in the hospital but that was only because he had healed so quickly that the doctors had wanted to examine him. They were calling it a medical marvel, Harry just hadn't felt like correcting them and telling them that it was magic.

It had been a rather odd experience for Harry when Natasha had joined them. It had been clear that she was uncomfortable from when she had taken a seat at the table with them all, trying very hard not to look at Harry as she over thought something. It took her a long while before she finally spoke what was on her mind.

"Thank you," she had said, directing this to Harry, who had not been expecting gratitude of any sort for what he had done and had been completely astounded when Natasha of all people had offered it. As far as Harry was concerned she didn't like him very much and he hadn't been aware that rescuing Clint could alter her perception of him so drastically.

"It was something I had to do," Harry said, his cheeks having flushed bright red as he said this, finding it hard to look in her direction. Every year on the anniversary of the end of the Battle of Hogwarts he was called upon to make a speech and afterwards was unceremoniously thanked for everything and everyone he had given up. Even after nine years, Harry still hated it with a passion, being thanked now was no less embarrassing or necessary. He had just been doing what he had been trained to do. He hated the reminder, the fresh jolt of pain that radiated through his heart and the wave of guilt that took over.

"No it wasn't," she pressed on, now unable to take her eyes from the young wizard. "You could have stayed in the safe house with lover boy and let us find him ourselves. You didn't and he's alive because of that." Steve had scowled when she had called him that but said nothing, knowing that Natasha would not take lightly to her gratitude being made fun of in any way.

"I just couldn't live with anymore death on my hands," Harry muttered stabbing at his watermelon. He despised the fruit but he thought it was a safe bet considering he was likely to be throwing it up later regardless. He hadn't wanted to risk anything too rich or heavy when he still felt so queasy.

It didn't take long after this rather awkward conversation for them to start to abandon breakfast, and for the six of them, which included Fury, to relocate to a more private area when other staff members had started filtering in to find their caffeine hit for the morning. They needed to discuss what they would do with George as a team and Nick knew that Harry was going to have a rather firm opinion on the matter. He was not disappointed either.

"You can't save everyone," Natasha said stubbornly, despite her gratitude towards Harry earlier she wasn't going to back down on this issue anymore than he was. In her mind George shouldn't just be forgiven because he was grieving, they had all lost people that they cared about in their lives and they hadn't all turned into homicidal maniacs, at least they weren't anymore.

"His mother has already lost enough," Harry snarled somewhat defensively, "their whole family has!" He didn't want to go into how Molly Weasley had basically raised him since he was eleven, how she had been the closest thing to a mother that he had ever had, and that each of her children were like the siblings he had never had, including George, no matter how far off the rails he had gone. Even Ginny was still a friend to him despite their relationship not going anywhere, it had been a mutual split between them.

"You're too involved," Natasha said heatedly, thinking that it never ended well when an agent was so emotionally involved with a mission. Thor seemed to be the only one who could handle having a personal connection to the mission. She could even admit her own faults when Clint was compromised by Loki before the battle of New York, she had taken it very much to heart but Harry clearly loved these people deeply.

"Loki is Thor's brother!" Harry raged indignantly, "do you think that he's too involved?" He didn't think it fair that his judgement was being called into question and his desire to save George blamed on his emotions. "All I'm suggesting is that we question him for any useful information and then we allow for my Government to deal with him."

"And what's to stop Loki just taking him back, it hasn't stopped him before?" Natasha demanded, not trusting any Government organisation other than her own. The Asgardian had already allowed for Loki to escape once and judging by what they had been told about the other wizards helping Loki the wizarding prison wasn't anymore secure.

"What do you suggest then Natasha?" Steve asked, trying to keep the peace but knowing just how fiery both Black Widow and Harry could be and how stubborn too. He wanted to find some form of solution for them all but he didn't think that it was going to be easily reached.

"Kill him," Natasha said bluntly, "If we had killed Loki when we had the chance to then we wouldn't be in this mess!" She was of the opinion that this was going to be the only way to deal with Loki, who didn't seem to get the message that the earth was protected.

Of course this suggestion was met with outrage from Harry who was not going to let anyone just kill George. It was a good thing that Thor wasn't present because he would have have had a great deal to say about this. Despite Loki's faults, he did love his brother. The suggestion that they should have killed him at the battle of New York wouldn't be likely to go down well with the Thunder God.

"Enough of this," Fury said, feeling a little exasperated with the bickering. "Potter, go and speak to our detainee and find out what you can from him. Roger's, go with him. Any information on what Loki is planning will be beneficial to us." Fury was beyond annoyed that they were bickering between each other. It wasn't going to get them anywhere fast, arguing about what they should have done, they all needed a break from discussing this.

"Yes Sir," Steve said as he and Harry headed for the door, more than happy to have an excuse to leave. If Harry didn't get himself away from Natasha then he was going to do or say something he'd regret.

-x

George had woken up, not knowing where he was and panicking a little. He had wanted to tell Harry so much more than he had been able to tell him. He was starting to believe that Loki wasn't able to bring Fred back as he had said he could and now he knew that he was in too deep, there wasn't going to be any way out for him now.

Waking up in what appeared to a prison cell of some description made him believe that Loki had overheard him somehow or found out that he had helped Harry. He felt as if he was going to die and in truth he was okay with that. He felt as if half of him was missing with Fred dead and buried, just gone into nothingness and he had never been able to recover from that.

There was one wall of clear glass in his prison, a viewing pane of sorts into a corridor but there was no one on the other side. The rest of the walls were an off white with no decoration to them. A toilet against one wall and a single bed directly in the centre of the room. This was where George was sat, head in his hands, wondering why he wasn't dead already, like he wanted to be.

"George," a voice said gently, a familiar voice that had George's head snapping up to look in the direction that it had come from, shocked when he saw Harry and confused about what he was doing here.

"Harry…" he said in shock, noticing the blonde piece of muscle standing behind him, arms folded across his chest and a stern expression on his face. George didn't acknowledge the handsome muscular man, not thinking him important at all, not when Harry was right there in front of him. "What are you doing, why did you come back here?"

"Come back?" Harry asked in confusion, "George, where do you think you are?" Harry knew that the stunning spell could cause disorientation, waking up in a different place than where he had been stunned must have been confusing, especially to such a disorganised mind like George's.

"I… I don't know… I thought that maybe, I thought Loki might have put me in here, I thought he might have figured out that I betrayed him by helping you." George was looking so confused and befuddled as if nothing was making sense to him.

"Steve and some others brought you here," Harry said, motioning to the handsome man behind him. "They found you after I left with Clint and they brought you here," he continued seeing that George clearly needed it explain to him.

"You shouldn't have done that," George said with a sad sigh, though he was glad that he was here with Harry because there was something that he needed to know. It was information that George knew would change what happened next as Harry and his new friends fought against Loki. He also found that he was glad not to be in the hands of Loki, it gave him so many more options about what he was going to do now.

"George, please let us help you," Harry begged, looking at his friend pleadingly. He wanted to be able to save George, he would feel as if had failed if he couldn't save him. Harry didn't think that he could tell Molly that she had lost another child.

"No," George said, shaking his head. "I'm going to help you."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, now it was his turn to be confused. He wasn't sure how George could help him anymore than he already had. He looked over his shoulder to Steve who gave him a small nod.

"Loki…" George began, looking decidedly nervous. "He wanted to assure your cooperation in getting the sphere from the Ministry. He knew when you came here that you would be protected and after the last time he knew he couldn't beat them to get to you. Loki knew he would need leverage."

Now Harry was worried, Loki would not take anything for granted and it concerned Harry what lengths Loki would have gone to ensure that he would cooperate. "What did he do?" Harry asked, needing to know what he was up against.

"Loki," George said with a sigh and a heavy tone of regret, "he has Teddy."

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><p>Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it wasn't too much of a cliff hanger for you *evil laugh* don't forget to leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.<p> 


	16. Dropping of Eaves

The Affliction of War

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><p>Happy New Year everyone, hope you had a great Christmas and a good New Year, here is a brand new chapter for you and I can't wait to hear what you think!<p>

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><p>Chapter sixteen - Dropping of Eaves<p>

"No," Harry said in shock, taking a step back from the viewing pane, grateful for the reassuring and comforting presence of his lover at his back. He didn't want to believe that what George had told him was true, that Loki had taken his nine year old Godson. Teddy was innocent in all of this, raised by his grandmother having lost his parents to war; he had been told only what was necessary for him to know and no more, Harry and Andromeda both wanting to keep his innocence intact, even in the face of such a devastating loss.

"I'm sorry," George said, his tone genuinely full of regret as he spoke, unable to look up and meet Harry's eyes; while he had his reasons for what he had done, he had not wanted others to suffer, particularly not someone so young and innocent, but he was so desperate to regain what he had lost with Fred's death that he had done the unthinkable without pausing for thought. "If it helps I know that he's alive," George went on, knowing this for a fact. Teddy Lupin would not be any use to Loki if he was dead. This fact was the only one he could be sure of right now.

Harry was lost for words, he didn't know what to say; he felt sick and he could feel his whole body trembling. If it hadn't have been for Steve standing behind him and holding him upright then it was likely that Harry wouldn't have been able to remain on his own two feet. He was in shock; he didn't see Teddy as much as he would have liked but he still loved the boy dearly, and the news that his beloved Godson was being held captive by Loki was too much for him.

"How can you be sure that he has him?" Harry asked, his voice coming out unsteady; no amount of Auror training could help him keep his composure in the face of such a revelation. But he needed to know what George knew, desperately wanting some form of proof. He couldn't believe that anyone would have got close to those he cared about when Kingsley had promised him that anyone he cared about who could potentially be a target was safe from harm.

George was staring at the floor of his containment cell, avoiding looking at Harry at all, and the wizard said nothing. Steve could feel how upset Harry was, he thought he could almost feel the magic radiating off his lover, but he was sure that he must be imagining it, simply because he knew what Harry was. He remained close though, knowing that Harry needed his support right now.

"Tell me!" Harry bellowed, suddenly lurching forward away from Steve and towards the viewing pane. "How can you be sure!?" he demanded to know, his hands pressed flat against the glass. Steve moved forward and reached out, but the second his fingers brushed Harry's shoulder, the wizard shrugged him off, focusing completely on the man behind the panel of glass.

George looked up slowly, but still struggled to meet Harry's eye. "Because I'm the one who took him," he said sadly, his voice little more than a whisper, finally looking Harry in the face. "I'm so sorry, Harry," he added when Harry looked to him with wide, rage filled green eyes. George never thought that he would be glad to be in a prison but in that moment he was, if only because there was a wall of strong, clear glass separating him from a very angry Harry.

"You bastard!" Harry shouted, slamming his fists into the glass with such force that it shuddered. Steve had to come forward and take hold of his lover then, simply to stop him from potentially breaking the supposedly unbreakable glass. "He's only nine years old," Harry raged from Steve's arms, "he's just a boy! Barely more than a baby! Tonks' and Remus' baby boy! How could you?"

"I'm sorry," George said again but his words only seemed to make Harry angrier. He felt so completely torn; he hated himself for what he had done, but couldn't regret it either; he had to do everything he could to get Fred back. He would die to feel complete again even for one moment, and now he was wishing he had; the concept of his own death felt easier to face, than the betray written in Harry's expression in that moment.

Harry struggled against Steve, as the super soldier moved him backwards away from the glass; he desperately wanted to get free from the hold his lover had on him, to break through the panel and make George pay for what he had done. However, Steve held firm, softly telling him to calm down.

"Stop fucking saying sorry!" Harry raged, ignoring his lover and letting his rage consume him, as he glared furiously at the red-head before him. "Loki will kill him, he'll kill Teddy!" He knew that this was true because Loki cared very little about anything other than himself. The only thing that this had helped was that now Harry knew what he had to do.

"Come on," Steve said gently, lifting Harry off his feet, knowing that he needed to get his lover away from George so that he could calm down. Harry was already feeling unwell and Steve didn't want for him to make himself worse.

"I will never forgive you for this, George. Never!" Harry shouted, as Steve carried him from the room, his attempts to break free from the larger man's hold in vain.

Only once they were several rooms away and completely alone did Steve sit Harry down and truly look at him. Harry's eyes were red, tears still streaming down his cheeks but there was anger in the emerald green pools that Steve couldn't deny that scared him just a little.

"Harry..." Steve said gently, not wanting to startle his lover too much, he seemed to be in a daze, thoughts consuming him as he tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't imagine what it might feel like to have someone so young snatched away from the enemy, he knew Harry's anger was justified and he knew he would do whatever it took to get Teddy back.

"I have to go to London, I have to go home," Harry said, his hands going out to take Steve's in his own. "I can't be here when he's there and he's scared. Please, I have to go," Harry pleaded. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do what he did the last time, his conscience wouldn't be able to handle doing what he had done to Steve again. Plus now he knew that the sleeping draft wasn't exactly affective on his super soldier.

"Harry, you can't but we'll send…" Steve tried to say but he was cut short by Harry shaking his head, firmly saying no to this.

"I'm going," Harry said, meeting his lover's eyes, "I have to go." He needed for Steve to know just how serious he was with this. He had to save Teddy and he wasn't going to leave that up to anyone else because he knew that no one else would be able to. Loki had taken Teddy as leverage to force him to get the sphere out of the Ministry. They were not going to leave their leverage anywhere that just anyone could find him.

"And if I say no, will you just drug me again?" Steve asked, looking at Harry questioningly, his tone was not accusatory but regardless, Harry looked up at his lover as if he had been slapped.

"Steve…" Harry said feeling utterly hopeless and extremely guilty.

"No, I understand why you did it," Steve said with a small sigh. "I admit that I would never have allowed for you to go off and rescue Clint, especially not sick." Harry nodded, tears in his eyes but they were no longer tears of rage but of sadness now.

"It was something I had to do. I couldn't let him suffer when it was my fault that he was there," Harry tried to explain. He knew now more than ever that he couldn't tell Steve about his suspected pregnancy until this was all over because if he did then he knew that he wouldn't be allowed to fight and he might just be the only one able to find Teddy.

"And that is why you need to find Teddy," Steve said softly and Harry nodded, glad that Steve seemed to understand this about him now. He could not just allow other people to fight his battles for him.

"He's only nine, he doesn't understand what's going on, his grandmother and I agreed that we should protect his innocence as long as possible. We didn't want his life being affected by war and now…" Harry said, feeling like an utter failure. He dropped his head into his hands feeling as if he had let Teddy and Andromeda down.

"Then we'll save him but we do this together," Steve said, raising Harry's head up to look him in the eyes. "Harry, I love you, I would do anything for you and that includes this, just please don't do anything stupid, let me help you."

Harry nodded, smiling softly at his lover through his tears, "Thank you," he said before flinging his arms around Steve and holding him. Slightly taken aback it took a moment before the Captain hugged him back but when he did he heard the words that he had been waiting to hear, whispered into his ear, "I love you."

-x

Teddy Lupin was sat curled in a little ball, terrified and alone. He had been locked in a small prison like bedroom on his own for days, though he couldn't be sure for exactly how long. There was a small flap on the bottom of the door that would open three times a day and food dropped in, it was the only way in and out of the room. A toilet in one corner of the room, a bed on the opposite wall and no windows. All he had that was his own was a teddy that his Godfather had given him when he was born and despite his friends teasing him he had treasured it.

He hadn't spoken a word since he had been thrown into this room. Though no one had come to talk to him but he wouldn't have said anything even if they had. He was sat on his bed, the teddy cuddled in his arms trying not to cry because that was all he had done since he had been put here.

To make himself feel better he had made himself look like his Godfather, messy black hair, scar and all just because he wanted to feel brave and Harry was so brave to have survived everything he had. He had heard the stories despite his Granny and Harry trying to protect him from them. He had rather enjoyed listening to them and he needed those stories now, he needed them to keep him brave like his Godfather.

He didn't know why he was here but he knew that he was alone. It had been the middle of the night when he had been taken, snatched from his bed by a faceless stranger, he had watched, half asleep and terrified as his grandmother had been killed trying to stop the stranger from taking him. The man who had grabbed him and carried him over his shoulder away from his Granny hadn't killed her on purpose. It had all been a horrible accident; his Granny had tried to stop the man from taking him and fallen down the stairs as she had made a grab for him. Her hands had reached out to his but he had been too far away to grab hold.

Teddy had seen her tumble head over heels down the steps, her body contorting in ways that it shouldn't be able until she had hit the stone tiles in the hallway, her neck twisted at a funny angel, eyes staring at him wide and unseeing. Teddy had opened his mouth and screamed. He had screamed non-stop until some form of spell had knocked him unconscious. When he had woken up he had been here and he hadn't said a word, nor could he stop crying, he'd remained sat on his bed, only moving for food and to use the toilet.

Teddy practically jumped out of his skin when, for the first time since his captivity in the tiny room, the door swung open. A large man with very little hair, a mean look and dressed all in black stood in the door frame. Teddy shuffled backwards into the far corner of the bed so that he was backed into the corner.

"That is a dangerous face to have in here, little wolf," the man said, his voice deep and gruff, sounding as evil as he looked. His entire face seemed worn and weathered as if he had seen a great many deaths and caused at least half of them.

"I don't know who you are," Teddy said, hiding behind the stuffed bear, his hands trembling with fear as the man stepped forward into the room, smiling.

Rolling up his left sleeve the man laughed, rather enjoying the terror in the young boys eyes. He was going to have a lot of fun with this creature now that his only protector had deserted them all. All the new Master had said was to keep the boy alive and intact, that left a whole lot of other possibilities.

"Do you know what this is?" the man asked, showing Teddy his left forearm where there was, what looked like, a faded tattoo of a snake coming out of a skull. The nine year old gasped, looking up at the large man with disbelief and fear.

"Y-yes," Teddy managed to say, trying to curl up even tighter into his little ball, not wanting to be anywhere near this man. He knew what that mark meant, he knew the terrible things that this man had likely done.

"Stay looking like that," the man said with an evil smile on his face, thinking of all the wonderful things he would like to do to Harry Potter, or in the absence of the man himself, a look a like that would also hurt the real Harry's loyal heart. There were so many things that he could do to this boy that wouldn't leave a single mark on his little body and he was going to enjoy each and every one.

-x

"No," Fury said with finality, "the whole point of bringing you here was to keep you away from that sphere, not allow you to go gallivanting off on some rescue mission, which is just what Loki wants."

"That was before he took Teddy," Harry raged back. He had refused to sit down upon entering the meeting room with the others. Steve had remained standing just to provide Harry with moral support.

Natasha, Neville, Tony, Thor, Bruce and even Clint had gathered together for this. Clint was looking a little worse for wear; however he was sat up on his own and listening intently to the argument that was going on around him. Thor and Tony had come back empty handed from their latest mission to find another sphere and, although they still had one, they no longer had the upper hand, at least not in Harry's mind.

"Who is Teddy?" Natasha asked, slightly confused by this new name that had suddenly been thrown into the mix. If Harry was hell bent on saving whoever it was, someone who clearly meant a great deal to him, then she wanted to know how she could help. She owed him for saving Clint, it would be the least that she could do.

Neville, who knew exactly who Teddy was, looked utterly horrified that Loki had stooped so low as to take him as leverage. He hated to think about what the deatheaters, who had escaped from Azkaban with Loki's help, might do to the young boy just to get back at Harry for incarcerating them.

"He's my nine year old Godson," Harry said, he was on the verge of breaking down but he refused to let himself, he needed to be angry, to be determined because if he stopped to think, stopped to cry, stopped to do anything then he wasn't going to be able to function any more and Teddy needed him.

Even Fury had the decency to look slightly horrified at the fact that there was a young child involved in a messy situation that was dangerous for them as adults, let alone for a child but that didn't mean that his resolve was going to waver on the fact that he didn't think Harry should go.

"Regardless, we have another wizard now, let us put together a rescue team," Fury said, standing firm on his decision. The resounding sigh from Neville told him just how this suggestion was going to go before Harry even had a chance to react.

"You should know by now that I won't let anyone fight by battles for me," Harry snapped, he was having to take deep breaths as a wave of nausea came over him. He didn't want to give any of them any more excuses to say he couldn't go.

Out of all of them, Clint was the one who knew. At least Harry had told him that he was suspicious of his symptoms but he couldn't be sure. However, all Clint would have to do is mention this to the others and there would be an uproar and he wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere, something he couldn't allow to happen.

"It is a trap," Thor pointed out, his arms folded across his chest and frowning at Harry's suggestion. He did not approve of the tactics his brother was using but regardless he was not exactly surprised.

"I think we can all agree on that," Tony said with slight amusement. There was no use in debating the point that it was a trap. Loki had taken someone that guaranteed the man he needed coming to him, a very smart move. It was just a shame it was a play against them.

"Harry, if there is no way to dissuade you from going yourself, just promise that you will let us help you," Neville said and Harry looked to him and smiled. He had truly missed his old friend, he at least understood him and his need not to just sit back and allow for other people to lay down their lives when he was safe and out of harm's way.

"That I can promise you," Harry said looking to Steve and giving him a soft smile. The super soldier came up behind him and just stood there, wanting to give Harry his support. The wizard was looking a little pale and Steve knew that he didn't want to appear weak so he just did what he could to make sure that Harry remained strong. "Another promise is that Tony won't be involved in this fight, there will be too much magic, I don't want to hurt you either."

"Damn, and I was so looking forward to almost dying again," Tony said with heavy sarcasm. He had been worried about going up against magic again, not that he would ever show his concern of course, he'd never let his cool facade of cocky indifference falter even for a second but he was still rather glad that he wouldn't be going.

"I was actually thinking that Bruce could stay behind with you," Harry said hopefully, casting a glance over to Bruce who nodded gratefully. He didn't want the green guy getting involved on this one. He was more than happy to help from a distance, this was not a mission they needed brute strenght for.

"For what purpose?" Fury demanded, not liking that Harry had taken charge of assignments. Normally it would be the Captain who would be the one to dish out orders, not his boyfriend. If this was going to be the way of it from now on then Fury wanted the reasoning behind the decisions.

"Someone helped Loki," Harry said as he swayed a little on his feet, he was grateful when Steve placed a hand on his hip to keep him steady. "We need to find out who. Also we have one of the sphere's here, they can protect it and look into how they work. If it comes to it then we'll need to know how to stop them extracting the power."

"What would it take for you to stay here?" Clint asked suddenly, looking at Harry, who glared at him in return. "You're sick, you shouldn't be going." His tone was pointed and Harry knew that he hadn't said what he had wanted to because he had glanced to Steve, picking his words very carefully.

Neville looked utterly confused, he knew that Harry hadn't been in top fighting condition but it confused him that Clint thought he was unwell. "Wizards don't get sick," he said looking at Harry as if trying to work it out, "not regular muggle illnesses anyway."

"Harry, is this true?" Steve asked, looking at his boyfriend with concern. He understood that, as a wizard, Harry couldn't go and see a regular doctor like normal people could and that he needed a magical healer, however he had not been aware of the fact that it was not going to be a regular illness. He supposed that he probably should have put two and two together but he hadn't really wanted to think about it that closely.

"It's true," Harry said looking to Steve somewhat apologetically; it wasn't that he had specifically not told his lover this, it was just that he hadn't wanted to full out lie to him. Harry knew that it wasn't going to be a regular muggle illness, the way things were going it was going to be a whole lot more than that. "And I'm not staying behind, though, seeing as we're going to London anyway I will make time to visit my healer if if makes you all happy."

"So that settles it," Natasha said pointedly, looking between her team members, "Most of us will be going to London." Clint, Steve, Thor, Harry and Neville nodded their agreement to this plan. None of them knew where Teddy might be being held captive but they could figure that out when they got there.

"So it would seem," Fury said with a frown. He didn't particularly like the idea of them all going off to London, especially not Harry but there were many reasons for that. He wanted to talk to Clint and see what he knew because clearly Barton knew something that he hadn't shared before.

"Harry," Neville said as the room fell silent, "Can I have a word, in private," he asked and looking a little worried, Harry nodded. He knew what this was going to be about and he was actually rather grateful that Neville had figured it out.

It wasn't as if he could talk about this to Clint, Clint just wouldn't understand the workings of it all. Neville, however, having grown up in the wizarding world, would know or at least have more insight into what he was going through right now. Dean and Seamus had had a little boy together two years ago and Neville had been named as Godfather so he would at least know more than Harry did.

Harry gave Steve's hand a brief squeeze before separating from him, heading for the door with Neville right behind him. Leaving the room, ensuring that the door was shut firmly behind them, the two wizards headed down the corridor to ensure privacy.

"I know you might not want me to ask this but…" Neville began, though he never got a chance to finish asking his question.

"I think I'm pregnant," Harry blurted out. It was what Neville had been expecting but he still couldn't help but look a little shocked. "I haven't had it confirmed," Harry admitted, "but it's the only thing that makes sense."

"I don't know the spell to confirm it," Neville said with a frown, thinking it over. "But you promise you'll go and see Draco the moment we get home and confirm it either way."

"I will," Harry said with a sigh, knowing that he would have to and there was not going to be any escape from that now. Clint knew and now Neville, Harry had very little choice other than to just get it over with. He knew that he would have to find out eventually but not knowing was somehow easier, at least it was until they were out of danger.

"Do you know who the father is?" Neville asked, thinking that he had to be sure, after all Harry did have a reputation for being somewhat promiscuous. It was far more likely for a wizard to have impregnated his friend than Steve so it was a question that he had to ask.

"There was never any doubt," Harry said fiercely. He did not appreciate the question; he had always been careful with the others, he hadn't been stupid enough to risk it with the hundreds of men he had slept with and regardless he had topped with most of them.

He honestly hadn't thought that it was possible for muggles to get a wizard pregnant, if he had known that the serum would change that then he would have been more cautious. He didn't even know for sure, at least it hadn't been confirmed by a medical professional; however, Harry just seemed to know. It was a feeling that he had, things were just different now.

"Harry…" Neville said with a sigh, wanting for his friend to understand why it was that he had had to ask this question. "Muggles can't…" he began to say but Harry shook his head.

"Normal muggles can't," Harry snapped irritably, he didn't think that he deserved all the questions. It wasn't like he had defiled Avenger's tower by sleeping with each and every one of the Avenger's. He hadn't slept with anyone other than Steve since he had arrived in America. "Steve isn't exactly a normal muggle, the serum makes him special, he is the father."

"As long as you're sure," Neville said, finding some comfort in the fact that Harry was so confident that he knew who the father was. "Have you spoken to him, does he know anything about this?"

"Do you think that I'd be going on this mission to rescue Teddy if he did?" Harry asked, knowing that Neville would know the answer to that particular question. Neville hadn't been with them for that long but he had already seen just how possessive Steve could be. Harry dreaded the thought of how the super soldier would be when he found out he was going to be a father.

"Point taken," Neville said with a small laugh, "you know I had to ask that, I wanted to know that you were sure." Harry nodded, in some ways he did understand why Neville had asked him but it still hurt that his friend had had to ask. He didn't want to be that person where there were questions on the parentage of his child.

"Now we just have to get to London," Harry said with a sigh. Thinking of the long flight that he had had to endure to get here was not filling him with happiness right now, however he wasn't sure how they were going to transport the team using magical methods, he didn't think that it would be allowed.

"I think Fury might have a solution to that," Neville said, "he usually does." Harry smiled and nodded at his friend as the two of them headed back to the room where the rest of the Avengers were sitting.

-x

In the end the flight was booked for early the next morning. Fury had arranged for a S.H.I.E.L.D jet to take them directly to London, something which Harry was grateful for; he hadn't wanted to get on another public aeroplane if he could help it. He had been slightly annoyed by the fact they couldn't leave straight away but after everything they had all been through the extra nights rest would do them all the world of good.

It was only lunch time and they had the rest of the day to do whatever it was that they needed to do. Of course to Tony and Bruce that meant using the Triskelion resources before they travelled by helicopter back to Avengers tower to start their research on the spheres and how they worked when all of them were united. They had vanished off before Neville and Harry had returned from their private chat. Natasha had gone off with Fury and Clint, apparently they had more to discuss just between the three of them.

Neville had decided that he was going to go and examine some of the research that Tony and Bruce were doing, thinking that it would be fascinating. Also, he could see Steve watching him, clearly wanting to talk to him. He didn't particularly want to talk to the super soldier, he just wouldn't feel comfortable having any sort of conversation with Steve, not if the subject was Harry.

Thor had gone off to see Jane and ensure that she was safe; he didn't want to take any chances where she was concerned. Harry's family, the people that he cared for, had been taken by Loki and Thor feared that Jane could be used against him. He would not put it past his adopted brother and he wanted to make sure that she would not be touched in this battle.

Feeling better than he had done in days, Harry had opted to go to the workout room that the Triskelion provided for its staff. He had thought that just focusing on working out for a while and not thinking about anything would be good for a while. He needed to lose himself for a while and be on his own so he could get his head around everything. Tomorrow he would be going to London and he would have his pregnancy confirmed one way or another. He already knew, deep down he just knew, he didn't need the test.

Steve had reluctantly agreed to separate from Harry for a few hours and go off and read for a while. He had a lot of questions for his lover, however, they could wait for a few more hours. He was suspicious of what was going on with Harry and the most frustrating thing was that he knew that now Neville knew more than he did. He and Harry would be sharing a room and more importantly a bed this evening and he could talk to him then.

Harry wasn't alone in the training room for long, he had hoped that he could just forget himself but very quickly Clint had joined him. He still wasn't at his best but thanks to the healing spells that Harry had done on him he was a lot better than he should have been considering what had been done to him.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked, stopping his assault on the punching bag and turning to give his attention to Clint who was stretching out on the mats across from him. The archer gave Harry a wary look before sighing, clearly realising that he wasn't going to be getting the peaceful work out that he had wanted.

"Better, thanks to you," he said, though he sounded less than enthused about this, which made Harry frown. "It shouldn't have been you," Clint said, finding that he needed to explain why he was rather unhappy to Harry, "not with… you know."

"Oh," Harry said with an expression of understanding passing over his face. "No one else would have been able to find you," he explained, "I just didn't want you to be hurting anymore."

"That I appreciate," Clint said with a nod of his head as Harry came forward to join him on the mats. This is what he had wanted to avoid; he didn't want to train with Harry because, in all honesty, he was scared that he might hurt the child in Harry's belly, "but it still shouldn't have been you."

"Come on, let's go a round or too," Harry said, wanting to change the subject. He didn't want gratitude from Clint, Harry had done what he thought was the right thing to do and he wouldn't regret that, not with Clint back with them and very much alive. "It might relieve some of that stress."

"Hell no," Clint said at once. He had hoped that Harry wouldn't ask, that the wizard would have the sense to be a little bit sensible. Clint should have known, however, that sensible was not something Harry was capable of being very often.

"Why not?" Harry asked with a pout, "still sore from the fact I beat you last time?"

"No," Clint snapped, feeling rather testily about that particular subject, "I just don't want to get beaten up by Captain America when we get carried away."

"Carried away?" Harry asked with an amused grin, "do you fancy me Clint?" Harry teased unable to help himself, enjoying watching his friend squirm far too much.

"Hell no," Clint said, his nose wrinkling in disgust, "I mean, no offence but you're just not my type." At this Harry couldn't help but laugh, it was a lot of fun watching Clint get increasingly more uncomfortable with each sentence.

"Then why won't you go a couple rounds with me?" Harry was genuinely confused as to why Clint thought that Steve would beat him up for doing something as innocent as training with him. It wasn't as if Steve was that insanely jealous, he was only a little possessive but Harry found that he rather liked that side of his lover.

"I told you," Clint said a little more firmly this time, "I am not being on the receiving end of a few punches from the Captain after he finds out I've been beating up his pregnant boyfriend!"

"Oh," Harry said as realisation dawned on him, "Clint…"

"No," Clint said a little forcefully, interrupting whatever it was that Harry had been about to say, "you might not have had it confirmed but I can see it in the way you act and that secret little chat you had with your friend. You just hold yourself... differently."

Harry looked shocked at this, he honestly hadn't thought he had been acting any differently at all. "I haven't told Steve yet," Harry said, "I don't want to, not yet… not until I know for sure."

"I get that," Clint said, "but I'm still not training with you."

"I'm pretty sure that my magic and Steve's super serum are pretty much going to be making this baby almost invincible," Harry said with a laugh. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Still, not risking it," Clint said firmly causing Harry to roll his eyes and smile. He couldn't blame Clint for not wanting to train with him but it still made him feel a little sad; he had rather enjoyed sparring with him.

"Just, please don't tell anyone else, I don't want everyone treating me as if I'm going to break or can't complete this mission. It isn't even a sure thing right now," Harry pleaded, not wanting to either worry or get his hopes up unnecessarily.

Harry wasn't sure what Steve's reaction would be. It wasn't as if they had known each other for a huge amount of time or even gone out on a proper date and now he was probably pregnant. Harry almost hoped that he wasn't just to save himself from the awkward conversation of telling him.

"Fury asked," Clint said, "he wanted to know if it was true, I think your wizard friend, the older one mentioned something."

"Kingsley?" Harry questioned, looking a little confused as to how the Minister for Magic would know that he thought he might be pregnant before he had said anything to anyone other than Clint and Neville. He knew that Neville wouldn't have had the chance to tell Kingsley anything because he'd only just told him.

"Yeah, that's the one," Clint said as he moved over to a weight machine, setting it up to use. Harry followed him over and watched as Hawkeye settled himself on the machine.

"Wonder how he found out," Harry mused, watching keenly as Clint's arm muscles began to flex as he pulled the weight. It was a rather mesmerizing sight to behold and it wasn't one that Harry wanted to give up just yet.

"No idea," Clint said with a grunt, trying not to think about the way Harry was ogling him. He didn't mind the attention, it was actually rather flattering but it did make him slightly uncomfortable. "Though, if you're going to keep staring at me like that your boyfriend might have a whole lot of other issues," Clint joked and was actually rather amused when Harry's cheeks flushed a brilliant scarlet.

"I'm just going to… yeah," Harry said, highly embarrassed and determined to go back to his workout before he managed to embarrass himself further.

-x

Steve had become rather bored sitting on his own. Wanting to go and watch Harry work out for a while, Steve had headed to the Triskelion gym. He hadn't wanted Harry to know that he was there, thinking that it would be too much like overcrowding him; so he had snuck in and settled himself behind a fair few machines out of sight.

He had been completely mesmerized until Clint had come in and he and Harry had started talking. From that point on Steve had been more than a little horrified. He had known that Harry wasn't well but pregnancy… it was not something that he had been expecting.

In truth he didn't know how he felt. He knew that he loved Harry, there was no doubt in his mind about that but he had never expected for them to even be able to have a child of their own. In fact children hadn't even crossed his mind considering they hadn't been together that long.

Steve had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't confirmed yet and that it was only a potential thing. It was the way that Harry spoke about it though, it had made it sound like such a certainty. A little confused and needing some time to process what he had overheard, Steve had slipped quietly from the room, thinking that he needed to get out of the Triskelion for a while and just go for a run.

* * *

><p>What did you think? Leave a review and let me know! I can't wait to hear your thoughts.<p> 


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